Patients suffer as pneumonia vaccine disappears from market

LAHORE:The shortage of pneumonia vaccine persists in the market after 36 children perished in a week due to dry cold weather in the province.

Around 121 suspected cases of pneumonia among minors have been reported in Lahore in the last 24 hours, as pneumonia takes the form of an outbreak with the consistently dipping mercury level in the City. The minimum temperature of Lahore has fallen to 4 degrees Celsius, as Met Office forecasts dry and cold weather to continue in Punjab.

While pneumonia precipitated by dry cold weather conditions takes a heavy toll on people, the citizens’ plight exacerbated due to disappearance of vaccines from the market despite the heightened demand.

The medical store owners claimed that the vaccine shortage still persists due to lack of supply by the distributors and importers. The people, however, observed that companies and pharmacies were hoarding vaccines and creating an artificial shortage in order to secure increase in prices. ‘The prices of pneumonia vaccine have already been increased in the black market,’ says a customer at pharmacy.

Pakistan is among five countries that account for 52% of total pneumonia episodes annually and 49% of pneumonia deaths in the world each year. The pediatricians say that 92,000 children die due to pneumonia in Pakistan every year, while 920,000 children die of this disease every year around the world. The pneumonia vaccines can prevent death among 3 million children, and save 750,000 others from disability annually. According to estimates, at least 46 percent children remain deprived of pneumonia vaccine in Pakistan.

It is learnt that the pneumonia vaccine, Prevenar, is available only in some areas and its price has jumped to Rs7,650. In other areas, it is being sold at as high a price as Rs14,000 in black market. The Synflorix and Pneumovax have disappeared from the market altogether. The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Pneumo, priced at Rs1,200, is also not available in the market.

Noor Mahar, a pharmacist, lawyer and President of Pharmacists Legal Forum, pointed out that pharmacies were selling vaccines in the black market to multiply their profits.

‘The suppliers halted the supply of pneumonia vaccines after Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) denied increase in the price of pneumonia vaccines,’ he alleged.

He said that the pneumonia vaccine was not manufactured locally; therefore, it is a 100% imported product in Pakistan, which has to be ordered six months in advance. As a result, the pneumonia vaccine and many essential drugs are constantly missing from the market due to various factors such as closure of import LCs and issues of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and pharmaceutical import companies’ demand for increase in prices.

He informed that there was only one federal drug inspector in Punjab, while laxity of 75 drug inspectors of Punjab is taking heavy toll on the people. ‘The death of 36 children in Pakistan, especially in Lahore, due to lack of pneumonia vaccine is a consequence of such gaps,’ he said.

While the pneumonia season raises concerns among the general public, he called for an immediate action to address the shortage and ensure availability of vaccine to safeguard the health of the citizens. He also demanded registration of cases under Section 23 and 27 of the Drugs Act 1976 against vaccine-importing pharmaceutical companies for disappearance of vaccines from the market.

Dr Masood Sheikh, a paediatrician, said that a cough producing green, yellow or bloody mucus is the most common symptom of pneumonia. Other symptoms include fever, chills, and shortness of breath, low energy and extreme fatigue.

‘Pneumonia can often be diagnosed with a thorough history and physical examination,’ he said, urging the parents to vaccinate their children against pneumonia. When contacted, Director General Drugs Control Punjab Muhammad Sohail claimed that there was no shortage of pneumonia vaccine in the market. The distribution vendor is distributing pneumonia vaccines in the market as per demand. ‘The Prevenar and Synflorix are freely available, while Pneumovax is partially available,’ he said.

The caretaker Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Dr Jamal Nasir expressed his concern at the loss of lives among children due to pneumonia. He said, ‘We have started collecting data of minors suffering from pneumonia for proper treatment.’

Following reports of shortage of pneumonia vaccine in the market, the minister said that the government shortlisted more pharmaceutical companies for provision of pneumonia vaccines, which have been sent for laboratory testing. ‘It will completely end the shortage of pneumonia vaccines after laboratory approval,’ he added. He said that on complaints of fake pneumonia medicines, ‘We have started collecting samples to identify fake pneumonia drugs and remove them from the market,’ he added. He said that the EPI includes pneumonia vaccine. Pneumonia diagnosis and treatment facilities are available free-of-charge in all government hospitals of Punjab.