Did WHO promote vaccines in India
not in use in other countries?
A leading Indian journal of medical ethics has charged the
World Health Organisation (WHO) of promoting a vaccine in this country that has
been discontinued elsewhere, following adverse reactions and deaths in
children. In a hard-hitting editorial piece, the Indian Journal of Medical
Ethics (IJME) has accused WHO of promoting Pentavalent vaccine “by stating
falsely that no adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) has ever been
reported with the vaccine”. The journal claims this is contrary to
facts. The editorial, by Jacob Puliyel, head of paediatrics at St.
Stephen’s Hospital in Delhi, is based on his detailed investigation into the
deaths of children in Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam following the
administration of Pentavalent vaccine.
This vaccine combines the Diphtheria, Pertusis, Tetanus or
DPT vaccine — long used in national immunisation programmes — with Hepatitis-B
and H influenza-b or Hib vaccine. This combination vaccine is not licensed
for use by the US Food and Drug Administration, nor is it used in other
developed countries, the editorial claims. The IJME editorial says that on
May 4, 2013, the Ministry of Health of Vietnam suspended Quinvaxem – the
Pentavalent combination used in that country — after 12 deaths and nine other
non-fatal serious adverse events. The WHO, which investigated the
incident, said the deaths were not vaccine-related and asserted that “Quinvaxem
was prequalified by WHO and no fatal adverse event following immunisation has
ever been associated with this vaccine”.
The journal goes on to say that serious adverse reactions
and deaths have now been reported with Pentavalent vaccine produced by other
manufacturers in a number of countries. Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have
even stopped using the vaccine. In India, according to IJME, 21 children
have so far died in a limited experiment with the vaccine introduced in 2011 in
the immunisation programme of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. India had announced plans
to roll out the vaccine in other states after monitoring its impact in these
two states.
23.07.2013
Health Ministry says iron and folic
acid tablets have side effects!
The central government on Monday clarified that vomiting,
abdominal pain and general discomfort were sometimes reported as side effects
of iron and folic acid tablets, and should not be a cause for worry. The iron
and folic acid supplementation programme has been underway in some states from
last year. It was introduced in the national capital last week.
Around 200 children in Delhi, it was reported, had severe
stomach ache and vomiting. Some children were admitted to hospital. ‘The
IFA (iron and folic acid) tablets are very safe, but there could be a miniscule
number of cases where there is some discomfort,’ Anuradha Gupta, additional
secretary and mission director, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), said at a
press conference. (Read: Why the programme is a bad idea?)
Gupta said in India, anaemia is a serious problem affecting
nearly 90 percent of women. ‘The IFA supplementation programme is a very
serious programme and if it is derailed for some minor issues, it would be a
great loss,’ she said.
Gupta said out of the 18 lakh children administered the IFA
tablets in Delhi, only 200 reported sick. According to studies conducted in India, 5-15 percent of
people given the IFA supplementation can report side effects. ‘In our
programme, less than 0.1 percent of people have reported side effects,’ she
said. Sidharth Ramji, professor of paediatrics at the Maulana Azad Medical
College, Delhi, who was part of the fact-finding team for the north Delhi area
where 200 children fell sick, however, said that no reason had been found for
the children to have the symptoms.
‘In all the schools and anganwadi centres, strict guidelines
had been followed while administering the tablets,’ he said, adding that some
children had problems from before the administration of the supplements, which
were exacerbated afterwards. He also clarified that the tablets were of fresh
stock, and had been procured only in June, with an expiry date of 2015.
Apart from the incident in Delhi, children have also
reportedly fallen sick in Maharashtra after taking the tablets. Gupta said that
the protocol on side effects form a part of the guidelines given to teachers
and anganwadi workers who administer the tablets.
23.07.2013
We may not all
do great things, but we can all do small things with great love
Mother Teresa
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