Accountant general stops payment for purchase of vaccines

Vaccines supplied were used in vaccination against polio, measles, hepatitis, among many others.

ISLAMABAD: The Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) has stopped payment worth over Rs1 billion for the purchase of vaccines of different diseases, Express News reported on Friday.

This move has put children’s lives in jeopardy, since multinational companies who were responsible for supplying the vaccines might not continue with the contract next year.

The vaccines supplied by the companies were used in the vaccination of children from viruses like polio, measles, and hepatitis, among many others.

According to the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), the government had given the tender to different multinational companies for the distribution of vaccines. However, when the time arrived for the payment of the vaccines, AGPR and ministry of health started having differences.