India does not face a vaccine famine, threatening her millions of newborns following the WHO-dictated closure of the three public sector vaccine units, as stated by the Union Health Minister Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss. In fact the private sector would meet the shortfall and steps have been taken to upgrade the public sector units quickly to international standards.
According to Dr.Ramadoss, a medical revolution is happening at Chengalpattu, where work is going on for putting up a world class vaccine park to be built on 200 acres in two years.Half the area is allotted to our PSUs to produce all the vaccines to WHO standards and the rest of the land could be allotted to private vaccine makers.Another 200 acres have been set apart for putting up a medical park for making high-tech medical equipment that is presently imported at huge costs.
It is wrong to say that the Health Ministry has closed down the three PSUs- the Central Research Institute at Kasauli, the Pasteur Institute of India at Coonoor and the BCG Lab in Chennai.They have not been closed down but they have been told to stop manufacturing vaccines until they upgrade their infrastructure and other parameters to WHO standards
Infact WHO inspectors had inspected those three PSUs and commented for their bad shape in terms of their old buildings, poor equipments and no formatting of records and call upon them to qualify for GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) and they also faced the threat of ban from exporting vaccines-80 % of all the vaccines of the developing world. Hence, those PSUs have been directed to stop manufacturing vaccines till they catch up with the GMP. But the private sector units confirming GMP norms were meeting the requirements of the developing world.
It is also relevant to note that WHO has also pointed out that while India had been giving substandard vaccines to its own children, it has been exporting standard vaccines manufactured by their private sector units. This has been in practice for many decades.
Thanks to the timely intervention of the Health Ministry that India’s own children are also going to be vaccinated at par with International Standards.
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