Insufficient Hepatitis B vaccine coverage in Indian Children

For the last 30 years, the Hepatitis B vaccine has been successfully introduced in a number of countries across the globe where it has helped reduce the incidence of these infections. There are an estimated 40 million chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers in India which constitute about 11% of the global burden of this infection. Since 2007-08, the Hepatitis B vaccination program has becomes an integral part of the Universal Immunization Program across 10 states in India. The Indian national policy recommends that children receive this vaccine along with the DPT and the trivalent polio vaccine at 6, 10 and 14 weeks in addition to a birth dose.

However, the low coverage of the HBV vaccine, compared to the similarly timed DPT, prompted the World Health Organization - India's National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP) to assess the possible reasons behind this scenario. The assessment was carried out between August and December 2009 in selected districts in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The study assessed that some of the reasons for the poor coverage included poor stock management, incomplete recording and reporting, the perceived high cost of the vaccine, the fear of wastage of vaccine because of the 10-dose vial, and incomplete knowledge amongst health professionals about the vaccine schedule. Clear, precise instructions along with improved management of vaccine stocks could help improve the coverage for this – and other new vaccines.

Source: Lahariya C et al. An assessment of hepatitis B vaccine introduction in India: Lessons for roll out and scale up of new vaccines in immunization programs. Indian J Public Health 2013;57:8-14

Source

Doctors - Beware of pharma pushed news in your name in the newspapers !

• 
  Editorial

by Dr KK Aggarwal

Many pharmaceutical companies are hiring PR agencies to push disease management or prevention health stories in newspapers at national level.

The story on behalf of the pharmaceutical company is created by the PR agency who then approaches key opinion leaders as suggested by the pharma and publish the same story under the name of KOL in the city.

Any story where we lend our name and photograph may land us into problem under the MCI Act.

Also it is possible that the PR agency may send same story to their state counter parts and get exactly the same story published in various state newspapers under the name of different doctors.

You may end up verbatim same story appearing under the name of different doctors with their photographs in various states.

Sometimes doctors may not even know that a pharma company is behind these stories as they may be approached by a PR agency that will send doctors an article and ask to give their name and photograph against that article and doctor may not be aware that the same article also has been sent to another doctor in another state.

It may also so happen that the PR department of your own hospital may approach you for a story to take your name and photograph. The doctor might be thinking that the story has been developed by their PR department and they may not be even away that the story has come through another PR agency to their hospital PR department. The hospital PR department is always under pressure to give the target to their management.

The same story being published under different names in any way is unethical and illegal.

I came across recently where a pharma company pushed an exactly same vitamin D article in different states with their photos.

Source

India unveils rota virus vaccine

• Editorial

by Dr KK Aggarwal

Indian scientists unveiled an affordable vaccine ( a dollar a vaccine) against a deadly diarrhoea-causing virus, Rota virus, that kills some 100,000 children in India every year. Rotavirus, is globally responsible for some 453,000 deaths annually. Rotavirus is blamed for causing up to 884,000 hospitalisations in India a year, at a cost to the country of 3.4 billion rupees.

K Vijaraghavan, Secretary of India’s Department of Biotechnology said it was a product of international cooperation. For the first time Indian scientists have taken a vaccine from the earliest discovery to every stage of development.
The vaccine named Rotavac will be manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech. Each vaccination consists of three doses.

Each dose of licenced vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Merc cost around 1,000 rupees.

Dr M K Bhan pioneered the project after local scientists discovered a localised rotavirus 23 years ago in a New Delhi hospital.
25 percent of all diarrhoeal admissions would be prevented by this. More than 300,000 babies die within 24 hours of being born in India each year from infections and other preventable causes.

NIH has also congratulated the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), Bharat Biotech International, Ltd., and the scientists, government and people of India on the important results from the ROTAVAC rotavirus vaccine study.

An oral vaccine, Rotavac will be administered to infants in three dose course at the age of  6, 10 and 14 weeks. It will be given along with routine immunizations recommended at these ages.

Source

Comments: This is wonderful news. Not only do we have an indigenous vaccine with Indian strains, and studies from AIIMS, but the cost of the vaccine is mindbogglingly amazing. In this era of MNCs vaccines where in all vaccines appear to cost more than INR 1000 at least, including currently available Rotavirus vaccines, this price point of INR 54 is going to help prevent Rotavirus disease in millions of kids and prevent lakhs of children from dying. Well done India !