Health workers tasked with providing Pentavalent (DPT-HepB-Hib) vaccines-- meant for protecting infants from diseases like Diphtheria, Pertusis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus Influenza--have urged the Department of Health Services (DoHS) to promptly supply the pediatric vaccines to all district hospitals. [break]
"We do not have a single vial of Pentavalent vaccine." Bode Bahadur Thapa, an officer at the Logistics Management Division of DoHS, told Republica. "All our vaccination programs, which aim to maintain the immunity of infant children, have come to a standstill as we are already out of stock."
DoHS, however, has not been able to address the pressing demand of health workers across the country. "We do not know when we will be able to supply the vaccines, as the United Nations Children´s Fund (UNICEF) is mainly responsible for them," Krishna Bahadur Chand, Immunization Section Chief (ISC) of Child Health Division at DoHS, told Republica.
UNICEF has undertaken responsibility for delivering Pentavalent vaccines, provided by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVA), to various developing countries including Nepal. It is learnt that UNICEF has cited delay in manufacturing as the reason for supply overdue. Dr Sudhir Sharma, who looks after immunization programs at UNICEF, was not available for comment.
The first consignment of new Pentavalent vaccines-- bought from the global company Crucell Berna after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended disposal of previously-used vaccines manufactured by the Indian company Shanta Biotechs--had arrived in Nepal in April 12. A total of 131,600 vials were in the first consignment, and these ran out within a week of arrival.
"The second consignment has not arrived yet," Chand said adding that DoHS would require at least a couple of weeks more to supply vaccines to all district hospitals.
According to a DoHS projection made on the basis of various health indicators, 660,000 children were to have been born in the past year. As per that projection DoHS required at least 175,000 vaccines to maintain the immunity of all children. But even after discontinuation of the drive for one month, a total of only 131,000, vaccines, apparently insufficient for a single month, was imported last April.
Risky affair
The delay in vaccinating infants could be very risky. The longer infants fail to receive vaccines, the greater the risk factor. Delay means they may lose their immunity.
The first dose of Pentavalent vaccine is given to a child six weeks after birth. Similarly, the second and third (last) doses are given after a gap of four weeks. "We need not panic if children fail to get vaccines on time," says a doctor at DoHS, unwilling to be named. However, according to him, risk emerges when children fail to receive vaccines for a long period.
Thousands of infants, who received vaccines almost one month ago, need to receive the second dose right away. Their parents are anxious as the supply seems uncertain. Siba Acharya of Kathmandu, who gave birth to a boy six weeks ago, is preparing to get him vaccinated within a couple of days.
But news of the vaccine shortage worries her. "I contacted doctors at Om Nursing Home, where I gave birth to my child, on Monday after learning about the dearth of vaccines," she said. "But the doctors said they had almost run out of vaccines. They were not sure they would have vaccines for my child after two days."
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