Multinationals Accused Of SL "Vaccines Panic"

Multinational drugmakers have been charged by the Indian State TradingCorp of creating a panic in Sri Lanka over the quality of Indian vaccines. The STC is questioning claims in the Sri Lanka media that it had supplied sub-standard diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus vaccines doses to Sri Lanka which led to a rise in the cases of whooping cough.

STC drug exports general manager B D Darwani said the important point is that this is a triple vaccine, and "if efficacy is poor, there should also have been an increase in the incidence of diphtheria and tetanus."

A committee set up by Sri Lanka's Health Ministry has found no evidence of a whooping cough epidemic, but the committee has said that it has not been possible to say whether the vaccine was faulty or not, and that to confirm quality it would have been necessary to test the vaccine at various points in the distribution chain. Reportedly, the vaccines were tested and cleared by the Sri Lankan health authorities.