HYDERABAD: The state government is all set to supply the liquid pentavalent vaccine (LPV) to children in the state by the end of December. The vaccine, which is believed to prevent five diseases in children, was formally launched by chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao here on Friday.
Under the National Immunisation Programme (NIP), soon the state government will receive LPV from the Union government and supply it to district health centres. “The vaccine is undergoing trials and the medical staff will be trained to administer it. “Once the training is over, which is most likely to end by December, the supply will begin,” Rao said.
Though the vaccine is produced by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E Limited (BE), the state will not purchase the medicines directly from the manufacturer as the NIN programme is sponsored by the Union government. The vaccine will reach Telangana from international agencies like UNICEF, Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI), and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, BE vice-president M Jeevan Kumar said.
The current contract with external agencies and the Centre will end by 2016, after which the state government may consider buying the vaccine directly from the manufacturing company, said an official from the state department of health, medical and family welfare.
The manufacturers claim that liquid pentavalent vaccine protects the child from Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hepatitis-B and Bacteria Meningitis (caused by Haemophilus influenzae type B Bacteria, HIB). Though the earlier vaccines had worked on four of the diseases, the new vaccine is also effective against HIB, said Mahima Datla, managing director of BE.