HYDERABAD: Mithi Senior Civil Judge Mian Fayyaz Rabbani on Monday ordered registration of an FIR against two vaccinators for administering expired BCG vaccine to five newborn babies.

During his visit to Bakhu village of Mithi taluka on Saturday, the judge inspected the vials being used to administer BCG vaccine to newborns at the local basis health unit (BHU). It emerged that the vial held by two vaccinators, Amba Ram and Hussain, at the BHU had expired in December 2014.

Also read: Expired vaccines use in Thar found

The vaccinators, when asked to explain their position, told the judge that they used the vial by mistake. Each vial caters to the vaccination needs of 20 newborns but the vaccinators said only five babies were administered the vaccine after its expiry date.

The judge obtai­n­ed their written statements and seized a couple of such vials along with the relevant BHU record.

Tharparkar has 58 BHUs functioning under the administration of the PPHI but the routine immunisation (RI) component is run by the provincial health department through district health authorities. Vaccines are provided by the health department’s Expanded Pro­gra­mme on Immunisa­tion (EPI), currently headed by Dr Mazhar Khamisani.

The judge also directed the police station concerned to collect information about the condition of the five babies. A report is awaited.

On Monday, Judge Rabbani held a meeting with the Mithi district health officer, Peoples Primary Heal­t­h­care Initiative (PPHI) manager and local civil hospital medical superintendent and collected facts about the use of expired vaccine.

He directed the DHO to lodge an FIR against the two vaccinators and order a departmental inquiry into matter. He called for inclusion of Bakhu BHU head Dr Sunil Kumar, who was absent when the judge visited the health facility, in the inquiry.

The PPHI manages basic health units, rural health centres, dispensaries and maternity homes. The district and taluka level hospitals, however, work under the health department. The EPI management has been facing criticism over RI coverage over the past few years, especially in the backdrop of many measles-related deaths in upper Sindh in 2012.

Dr Mazhar Khamisani, when contacted on Saturday for his comment, said that the two vaccinators found using the vaccine belonged to the PPHI, whose management had appointed its own vaccinators. He said that he would visit Tharparkar on Tuesday to make proper inquiries.

Quoting Mithi DHO Dr Pirbhu, EPI project director said that BCG was provided to vaccinators in June 2014.

PPHI head Dr Riaz Memon said that his dispensation’s management at BHUs was supposed to only check attendance of vaccinators but the RI component was associated with the EPI, so his dispensation had nothing to do with the issue of expired vaccine.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2015

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