JULY 1-15, 2009 | VACCINE SHORTAGE - GET YOUR OWN VACCINE
Down To Earth|May 01, 2021
How a plan to promote private vaccine makers boomeranged
VIBHA VARSHNEY
JULY 1-15, 2009 | VACCINE SHORTAGE - GET YOUR OWN VACCINE

SHUVAM KUMAR lay on an iron cot in the tetanus ward of the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna, Bihar. After four days in the hospital, with stiff jaws and high fever, the two-year-old was too weak to cry when the nurse gave him an injection. There is little hope left of his survival, the family had been informed. His father, a labourer in Galurghat village in Gaya, regrets not getting Shuvam to Patna for the tetanus vaccine immediately after he stepped on a nail in the village. Shuvam was not administered the vaccine after birth either. The vaccine is not available in the village.

Back at the ward, a resident doctor said they expect more such patients. The health ministry had shut its public sector vaccine manufacturing units.

It was a move to protect business. The three units that got suspension letters (on January 15, 2008) were: Central Research Institute (CRI) in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh; BCGVaccine Laboratory (BCGVL) in Chennai and Pasteur Institute of India (PII), Coonoor, both in Tamil Nadu. An inspection, by a team comprising who and health ministry officials, found the units did not meet the good manufacturing practices of the who and pointedness sense for India. who certification helps procurement agencies like the UNICEF assess the quality of vaccines for immunization programmes the world over. About 60 per cent of the world’s vaccine supplies are from India.

Esta historia es de la edición May 01, 2021 de Down To Earth.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición May 01, 2021 de Down To Earth.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE DOWN TO EARTHVer todo
The Pill That's Roiling US Drug Regulation
Down To Earth

The Pill That's Roiling US Drug Regulation

The hard right is challenging FDA's authority to regulate drugs with its lawsuit to ban America's most used abortion pill

time-read
4 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
TURN OVER A NEW LEAF
Down To Earth

TURN OVER A NEW LEAF

The young leaves of pilkhan free are a worthy alternative to leafy vegetables in the spring season

time-read
3 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
FAIR PRICE
Down To Earth

FAIR PRICE

Using a calculator, Uttar Pradesh scientifically fixes fee for transporting faecal sludge to treatment plants

time-read
3 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
THE FOREVER POLLUTANT
Down To Earth

THE FOREVER POLLUTANT

From production to usage to disposal, plastic is a threat to those who come in its contact SIDDHARTH GHANSHYAM SINGH

time-read
7 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
Seeds from the past
Down To Earth

Seeds from the past

For a decade,200 villages in Odisha have conserved and grown 190 indigenous rice and millet varieties with proven climate resilience

time-read
6 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
TESTING TIMES
Down To Earth

TESTING TIMES

While the world is trying to identify uniform tests to measure soil biodiversity, it still needs investment and infrastructure to make them available to all

time-read
4 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
BREAKING NEW GROUND
Down To Earth

BREAKING NEW GROUND

Soil health is typically measured by its nutrient content, by presence of elements like nitrogen and phosphorus. No country in the world measures it in terms of soil biodiversity-a counting of underground faunal populations and microorganisms.

time-read
8 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
PRIME TRIGGER
Down To Earth

PRIME TRIGGER

Heat stress dominates debate on the causes of a mysterious chronic kidney disease that continues to baffle health experts and is on the rise globally

time-read
5 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
Coral catastrophe
Down To Earth

Coral catastrophe

Consistent ocean heating puts global corals at risk of mass bleaching in 2024

time-read
4 minutos  |
April 16, 2024
CHIPKO A DISTANT MEMORY
Down To Earth

CHIPKO A DISTANT MEMORY

Whenever a dictionary of green terms is written, no matter in what language, it will contain at least one Hindi word-Chipko, which means to hug.

time-read
6 minutos  |
April 16, 2024