President Orders Investigation of Vaccine Fraud

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has ordered the health minister and the chief of the National Police to investigate the production and distribution of fake vaccines to toddlers. The President said that the manufacturers and distributors of the fake vaccines should be severely punished for endangering the lives of the children.

"We, for example, assume our children have already got polio vaccines, but apparently not. What will be the future of our children? It's very dangerous. It is an extraordinary crime," the President said in a press conference at the Bogor Palace on Tuesday (28/6/2016).

The President said he had ordered the minister of health and the chief of the National Police to immediately investigate the fake vaccines. "The distribution of the fake vaccines has been taking place for so long: already 13 years. Therefore, it should be thoroughly investigated. Give punishments as severe as possible to producers, distributors, sellers and all those involved," said the President.

Meanwhile, the National Police, the Health Ministry, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and other health-related agencies have formed a special task force to deal with the fake vaccines. The task force will be supported by police investigators from all police offices in the country.

The director of the special economic crimes division, Brig. Gen. (Pol) Agung Setya, said the main jobs of the task force would be to support law enforcement, conduct laboratory examinations and handle the people who had received fake vaccines. "The main duty of the task force is to identify the distribution of the fake vaccines," Agung added.

From the results of the initial investigation, the police believed the fake vaccines had been distributed in Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java and North Sumatra. However, the number of children under 5 who had received fake vaccinations is not yet known.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), as of the end of 2015 4.8 million people were born in Indonesia every year.

Free vaccine

The director general of pharmaceuticals and medical devices at the Health Ministry, Maura Linda Sitanggang, said that the task force would try to find the data on the babies who received fake vaccines. In addition, the team from the Health Ministry would also identify the impact the fake vaccines had on the infants. "After finding the actual data of the fake vaccine recipients, the ministry would provide free vaccinations," she said.

The chairman of the Indonesian Pediatric Association, Aman Bhakti Pulungan, hoped the fake vaccine case would not discourage people from giving vaccinations to their children. He said people should continue to follow a regular schedule of immunizations of their infants. "We will see the side effects of the fake vaccines. The short-term effect is that the vaccine would not bring immunity," he added.

Agung said on Monday (27/6/2016) night that investigators had arrested a new suspect in East Jakarta who allegedly distributed fake vaccines in Jakarta and surrounding areas. With the arrest, the police have already detained 16 people allegedly involved in the case. "They were interrelated. If there was a shortage of vaccines, they asked for more from other networks," he said.

The National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) has threatened to file a class action lawsuit against the Health Ministry and the BPOM over the distribution of the fake vaccines. The commission said that the government had failed to properly oversee the distribution of vaccines in the country.

"The circulation of the fake vaccines was due to the lack of government control over the distribution of vaccines," the commission's chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait said.

From 2008 to 2016, there were 121 child vaccine-related cases reported to Komnas PA. The cases will be analyzed again as evidence for the lawsuit. According to the secretary-general of Komnas PA, Dhanang Sasongko, the commission had opened posts in 24 regencies or cities to receive reports from people on the use of the vaccines. "It will take two weeks to collect data and support from people before filing the class action suit in court," he added.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek said that the ministry's team, along with local health authorities, had checked all health facilities that were allegedly involved in selling fake vaccines. She said all health offices have also been asked to directly check the babies believed to have received fake vaccines and the babies should be given basic vaccines.

"We give free vaccines to residents. PT Bio Farma should check first before distributing them to the health department and the clinics. It's mandatory and free," Nila said.

The acting head of the BPOM, Tengku Bahdar Johan Hamid, said that during the official distribution, the control over the vaccines was taken more seriously than drugs. Before the vaccines are marketed, they should be first tested by the BPOM. Distributors are also evaluated periodically and patients can only get the vaccines in the official healthcare facilities. However, the BPOM does not supervise pharmacies or drug stores that are not licensed to sell vaccines.

"We did not check the vaccines on Jn. Pramuka, Jakarta. Perhaps, there are authorized drug sales there, but not of the vaccine," he said.

He said the BPOM cannot monitor the circulation of fake vaccines at health facilities because the agency does not have authority to supervise the procurement of drugs there.

The executive director of the International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group, Parulian Simanjuntak, said the vaccine distribution chain did not have any problems because it was regulated as an official drug distribution (CDOB) by the BBPOM. However, he said there are vaccines sold outside the CDOB system.

In some areas, such as Makassar, Bali, Yogyakarta, Semarang and Banyuwangi, the monitoring of vaccines in a number of health facilities is carried by the BPOM and the Health Ministry. In Makassar, the health officials found two hospitals stored the vaccines that did not meet standards.

The BPOM in Medan has deployed six teams to inspect hospitals, clinics and other health facilities over the alleged circulation of fake vaccines. However, no fake vaccines have been found in the health facilities.

The regent of Semarang, Mundjirin, appealed the local health office to suspend child immunizations for two or three weeks until the sales of counterfeit vaccines in Central Java could be identified.

The head of disease control and public health services of the East Java Health Office, Ansarul Fahrudda, said his office was checking vaccines, especially in hospitals and private clinics.

 

Source Kompas, Wednesday, June 29, 2016