UP146;s haste does not amuse experts

Uttar Pradesh government8217;s hasty decision to prepone the much hyped Japanese Encephalitis immunisation drive has left experts at the Centre unhappy.

Uttar Pradesh government8217;s hasty decision to prepone the much hyped Japanese Encephalitis immunisation drive has left experts at the Centre unhappy.

The campaign, which was to take place on June 18, is being undertaken on May 15, 2006. This would be just three days after 5.2 million doses of the Chinese made Japanese Encephalitis tissue culture vaccine, manufactured by the Chengdu Institute of Biologicals arrive in India, on May 11. The remaining 13.5 million doses are likely to be imported by mid-June.

The teams in the Central government and international agencies are not in favour of going for the round as some data need to be analysed before starting the vaccination drive.

8216;8216;The peak season for Japanese Encephalitis starts in July, so June is the apt time as the vaccine becomes effective after 15 days of vaccination . We could have trained people properly, taken care of logistics and cold chain in a better manner,8217;8217; said an official, who did not want to be named.

The Uttar Pradesh Government, however, has announced the campaign for four districts of Gorakpur, Maharajgunj, Dewdia, Kushinagar and half of Lakhinpur Kheri. The other six districts are likely to have the drive in June.

The health ministry had planned to conduct the campaign simultaneously in 11 highly endemic districts, seven in UP, two in Assam, and one each in Karnataka and West Bengal, in June.

Although the officials maintain that the Chinese vaccine was found to be safe and having an efficacy between 88 and 99 per cent on a single dose and had received clearance from a high-level committee of the Indian Council for Medical Research, but some reports are still awaited.

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8216;8216;Results of the animal toxicity studies being carried out by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, would be available only by June,8217;8217; said the officials. The institute has been now asked to prepare a preliminary report by May 15, they said adding post-marketing surveillance may not be possible in the programme in UP.

The central government is also rushing a team of officials to Gorakhpur to train the staff and create proper cold chain and power backup before the programme takes off, sources said.

8216;8216;We won8217;t even know what the minor side effects are, like fever. Even if a child faints due to the hot weather it will give a bad name to the campaign,8217;8217; said an official.

Japanese Encephalitis has been claiming around 1,000 to 2,000 lives every year since 1952. About 600 to 700 children have been dying in Uttar Pradesh mostly in Muslim-dominated areas and the issue was much politicised last year, with both Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister asking for action.