Fake vaccinators held in capital

KATHMANDU, March 30: Police apprehended four people for administering fake hepatitis B vaccine to the public in Boudha following the tip-off from the District Public Health Office (DPHO), Kathmandu.

DPHO Chief Bisho Ram Shrestha said the police have handed over the quack vaccinators to Kathmandu District Administration Office for punishment. Claiming such vaccines can have disastrous impact on human health, Shrestha said, "Preventing fake vaccinators from selling unapproved vaccines has become a major challenge for us."


According to DPHO, all vaccines must have quality approval from World Health Organization (WHO) before being administered. Likewise, vaccines must also get approval from the Department of the Drug Administration (DDA). The vaccines administered by the arrested vaccinators had approval from neither of the agencies.

"We have not given consent to any organization in the country to administer hepatitis B vaccines," Shrestha said. The government does not have a policy to give consent for administrating hepatitis B vaccine. The vaccines for hepatitis B, the most common serious liver infection, are administered in Nepal only through those authorized by the government.

The arrested vaccinators were found to possess identity cards of a fake non-governmental organization.

"We confiscated bills and identity cards of ´Heal Nepal´ and ´Janasewa Nepal´ from them," Dhurba Adhikari, a public health officer at DPHO, Kathmandu, revealed. Adhikari said the vaccinators smuggled unapproved vaccines from India. "We do not know about the quality of the vaccines they were using. It could be distilled water or something else," Adhikari said.

The vaccinators were found charging Rs 50 for administering vaccine to children aged 10 years, and Rs 100 to those above the age. DPHO chief Shrestha revealed that such fake vaccinators influence school principals to sell vaccine to students. Due to open border, the DDA faces difficulty in curbing the flow of unapproved medicines into the Nepali market. Though DDA has prohibited pharmacies from selling unregistered drugs, the agency´s latest report indicate their existence in the market.

The government has been providing free hepatitis B vaccine to children since past 10 years. "We administer the vaccine through our regular programs, thus, children below 10 years do not have to take additional vaccines," chief Shrestha said.