THE difficulties faced by the country in vaccinating every single child against polio are widely known and place a formidable question mark over the health of new generations.

Less talked about, though, is the fact that the deficiencies of the health sector in terms of protecting children against preventable diseases are myriad, and so deeply entrenched as to make a change of course appear difficult.

If at one end of the spectrum there is the problem of the slowdown in the rates of routine immunisation, at the other are the glaring gaps in supply, storage and oversight, which may cumulatively negate what little success the country does manage to achieve in this area.

The latter point was underscored by the news that came to light a few days ago that a large consignment of the pentavalent vaccine, worth some $1.3m, that was being stored on the premises of the National Health Services Ministry had spoiled because the required temperature had not been maintained.

Take a look: Pakistan wastes $3.7 million worth of donated vaccine

To put this into perspective, the vaccine, which protects against five potentially deadly diseases in a single shot, was of a quantity that could have been administered to 400,000 infants.

The story has only come to light because of the actions of a whistleblower, and the health authorities have on their part instituted an inquiry and promised suspensions when those responsible for this lapse are identified.

That is all very well, but hardly goes far enough. That such an eventuality occurred at all provides further evidence of what a survey undertaken by WHO and Unicef last year concluded: urgent improvements are needed in most areas of vaccine and supply management systems, while the country is meeting the required standards only in the area of vaccine and commodity arrival procedures.

As it is, Pakistan’s vaccination efforts are aided in no small part by international organisations; it is shameful that even so, the country cannot get things right at its own end, even when its own future is at stake.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2015

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