SC notice to Ramadoss on closure of public sector vaccine units

21 February 2009

Responding to a public interest petition, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam issued notices to union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss, the central government, the Drug Controller of India, the states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, and the directors of the three institutes.

The closed PSUs – the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, the Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor, and the BCG Vaccines Lab, Chennai, were manufacturing several vaccines, which were distributed to government hospitals at a fraction of the cost charged by private manufacturers.

Arguing for petitioners S P Shukla, former special secretary in the union government as well as ex-member of the Planning Commission, and NGOs Low Cost Standard Therapeutics, All India Drug Action Network, Society for Scientific Values and Medico Friend Circle, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves cited a recent report of the parliamentary committee on health, which castigated the minister for his action.

The three public sector vaccine units were supplying six essential vaccines as part of the government's universal immunisation programme. These vaccines protect children from diseases like diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, and childhood tuberculosis.

The petitioners pointed out that a successful vaccination programme is directly dependent on the availability of affordable vaccines in the country. They pointed to countries like Brazil, Thailand and Indonesia, which have always maintained a strong government presence in drugs and vaccine manufacture.

The vaccines whose production has been halted by the health ministry include the vital oral polio vaccine, the DTP-hepatitis-B combination vaccine and a cost-effective vaccine against Japanese encephalitis; Kausali-based CRI's yellow-fever vaccine and vaccines for tetanus and rabies; and the BCG vaccine produced at Chennai.