All UP govt hosp staff to get anti-flu shots

LUCKNOW: Alarmed over the rising number of people contracting swine flu, the state government has directed that all hospital staff across the state get anti-flu that will protect them from the H1N1 virus.
On Monday, principal secretary in the department of health and family welfare Arvind Kumar ordered the chief medical officers of all districts to procure the vaccine at the earliest.
However, pharmaceutical industry players claim the government has set an unachievable target. “Even if the UP government finalises the procurement process in a day, it cannot get vaccines till about four weeks,” a senior manager at a flu vaccine distributor company said.
Experts at the All India Vaccine Dealers Association also agree that the target the government has set is hard to meet. “There’s an acute shortage of the anti-flu vaccine in India,” said Sanjiv Singh, general secretary. “No one manufactures the vaccine is India. Only five companies -- Chiron Panacea, Glaxo, Solvay, Sanofi Pasteur and Bharat Serum -- market and supply it. Supplies come from three manufacturers across the globe. Of them, two -- Abott and Novartis -- have run out of stock. The third, Sanofi Pasteur, has very limited stocks, which according to reliable sources has been booked by the Indian government for supplies to states where the virus is more rampant,” he explained.
Industry players say the UP government has woken up to the problem rather late. “The process of importing vaccines is long and time-consuming. It may take at least two months, if the time-schedule is met,” a vaccine distributor in city said.
Explaining this, Singh said, “Distributors send a forecast report to manufacturers before the winter. Based on this estimate, they acquire an import license and ask for supplies from the makers who ship it. All this takes about three to four weeks. On arrival in India, vaccines are sent to the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, for batch testing, which also may take 15-60 days. Once cleared, vaccines are dispatched to the distributors’ head office and later transported to the designated end user. That also takes a week’s time.”
Asked about the time taken to acquire the vaccines, principal secretary Arvind Kumar said, “We are aware about the crisis, and have initiated a twin process. While CMOs have been asked to obtain the vaccine locally, a centralized purchase would also be made through a short-term tender. Our officers met representatives of supplier companies who have also assured support, in public interest. Keeping the shortage in mind, we have asked CMOs to get staff deputed in swine flu and emergency wards to get vaccinated first.”