Pakistan wastes $3.7 million worth of donated vaccine, official says

Monday, March 2, 2015

Pakistan has wasted $3.7 million worth of vaccines donated to protect children from deadly diseases because officials failed to store them properly, a senior health official told Reuters on Monday.

The scandal is the latest problem to be exposed in Pakistan’s poorly run public health services.

“We have suspended the officials concerned and are conducting an inquiry,” Saira Afzal Tarar, minister of state for national health services, told Reuters.

The ruined vaccines were pentavalent vaccines, which combine different vaccines in one injection and are supposed to protect children against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and a bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia.

Source: The Daily Mail (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
Tags
healthcare technology, infectious diseases, vaccines, waste