KATHMANDU, Dec 7: Health facilities across the country are running out of crucial vaccines like BCG and JE because of the ongoing blockade by India against Nepal that has put hundreds of thousands of children at risk. Some health centers lack the vaccines altogether and others are running out, officials at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said.
"Children will be deprived of the vaccines if the District Public Health Office does not resume supplies immediately," Jagat Nepali, chief of Allapot Health Post in Kathmandu said. He informed that he has just three vials of vaccines left and lacks JE vaccines altogether.
"BCG is a very essential vaccine against tuberculosis, meningitis and several other kinds of disease. The vaccine should be administered within 45 days of birth. Health workers said that the vaccine works best if it is administer as soon as possible after birth. Similarly, JE vaccine is meant for a type of viral brain infection spread through mosquito bite and it should be given to children under one year.
Kathmandu DPHO has not supplied vaccines to local health facilities for the last two months. Officials at the DPHO said that according to the Logistics Management Division (LMD) at the Department of Health Services (DoHS), which supplies vaccines and essential medicines to health facilities across the country, stores at tthe central, division and regional levels all lack the vaccines.
"Vaccines at local health facilities are at a critical low. Some centers might have enough vaccines for one or two weeks and some others might have already run out," Bade Babu Thapa, an official at LMD, said. He concedes that LMD has failed to procure the vaccines as the Serum Institute of India, the vaccine manufacturing company, has not shown interest in supplying to Nepal any longer.
With stocks of BCG and JE emptying at both central and regional stores, LMD had sought help from the country offices of the World Health Organization (WHO). But the UN body has also been unable to supply the vaccines. LMD likewise turned to UNICEF to procure 96,000 vials, but it too has been unable to deliver.
Health experts warn that the shortage of vaccines could cost more than just money. They said that people might not bring their children for immunization again if they have to turn back empty-handed.
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