Vaccines: India is being held to ransom.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sirs,

After going through the newspaper stories enclosed below we should realise

that the economic aspect of vaccines has overshadowed the necessity aspect. What

vaccines Indian infants should have as part of the Universal Immunisation

Programme (UIP) is decided by " researchers and planners " seated in London and

Geneva. Bill Gates (and his Bill and Melinda Gates Childrens Vaccine Program) is

today deciding more than just India's IT scenario, the man is mired neck deep in

the country's health policies as well.

He probably thinks he is doing a great service, over and above his ardent

desire to remain in the good books of the American Senate, by being the largest

sponsor of GAVI, the Global Alliance of Vaccine Initiative. GAVI today claims

that the " health benefits " available to children of the richer countries should

accrue to the poorer nations also.

What it does not say is that, in the process, a whole lot of rich people

associated with the vaccine industry, mostly as shareholders and owners, become

richer.

As the doctors in India point out, GAVI and its components, WHO and UNICEF,

prefer to directly deal with the " planners " in India without bothering about the

ground realities as perceived by the senior physicians of the country, many of

whom are deeply critical about the future immunisation plans of the Govt of

India.

The HepB vaccine, the HiB, the TIF influenza vaccine, meningococcal, the

pnemonococcal are all costly vaccines that the poor in India may " unfortunately

miss out " due to the cost burden. Therefore the good samaritans plan to hijack

India's health budget and include these vaccines into the UIP, a campaign which

ensures children receive these vaccines free, the cost of which is born by the

GOI.

Needless to say, such a situation is loose-loose for the Indian citizen and

win-win for GAVI and its allies, as also the pharmaceutical industry which is

hands in glove with them.

These vaccines, as senior doctors point out, have no place in India whose

priorities are different. They also point out that costs of vaccine adverse

effects are not considered while all out efforts are being made to include these

vaccines, the HepB in particular, in the UIP.

The service obviously comes at a great cost. Funds are diverted from

constructive activities, the new diseases unleashed drain the ordinary person

and the " good samaritans " plan newer vaccines for the new diseases. A vicious

circle that can be broken only if the health consumers, aka the ordinary

citizen, wake up and demand that they too should be a part of the " grand plan " .

After all it is their health which is at stake.

Yours,

Jagannath.

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Tehelka Story:

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main22.asp?filename=Ne111806Reality_checks.asp

Excerpt:

In 1998, the health ministry turned down a .... proposal for a universal

Hepatitis B vaccination plan on cost grounds. Then Union Minister of State for

Health, Dalit Ezhilmalai told the Rajya Sabha, “Hepatitis B vaccination has not

been included under the National Immunisation Programme as the estimated cost

will be around Rs 525 crore per annum … Availability of funds to sustain this

over such a long period cannot be assured.”

In September 2005, the Union Health Minister Dr A. Ramadoss announced that the

1998-pilot project was successful and universal vaccination against the

Hepatitis B would be brought under the National Immunisation Programme.

" ....need for Hepatitis B vaccination has been grossly exaggerated. It says

that according to the Indian Association for Study of the Liver (INASL), 1.84

lakh people in India die from liver cancer (Hepatitis B is one of its causes)

annually. But, the report points out that according to the Indian Council of

Medical Research only 5,000 die from liver cancer induced by Hepatitis B in

India. “ As of now the only beneficiaries seem to be vaccine manufacturers,” "

There are also questions about vaccination programmes in developing countries

like India providing a foothold for multinational pharmaceutical industries to

expand their markets.

Story in Hindu:

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/04/22/stories/2002042205130400.htm

Arguing that not all vaccines have the same societal benefits, Dr. Puliyel

also seconds the findings of the study. " Organisations like the WHO must avoid

the blandishments of vaccine manufacturers if they are to retain their

credibility,'' he said.

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" I am, and have been for years a confirmed anti-vaccinationist. I have not the

least doubt in my mind that vaccination is a filthy process that is harmful in

the end " - Mahatma Gandhi (Koren Publications Inc.)

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