New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India has pulled up the Union health ministry, accusing it of “limiting the competition to multi-nationals” after the ministry recently changed the criteria of buying meningococcal meningitis vaccine required for the Haj pilgrims.
Every year 1.75 lakh doses are required for the Haj pilgrims travelling from India for the largest annual pilgrim. While, the ministry has been buying the vaccine from a Ghaziabad-based Bio-med Private Limited company.
This year it changed the conditions of purchase in its tender floated in June, which has resulted in the litigation. While there is a huge shortfall of vaccine needed urgently for the Haj pilgrims, to sort out the matter the Union health minister has now formed a committee.
According to sources in the ministry, only 35,000 doses are available in the country against the requirement of 1.75 lakh doses. “If nothing is done on urgent basis, the ministry will have to do away with the new tender condition, if this is not done huge amount of money will unnecessarily be spent for buying the vaccine from foreign companies,” sources said.
Adults and children over the age of 2 years arriving for the purpose of Haj pilgrimage are required to produce a certificate of vaccination against meningitis which should be issued not more than 3 years and no less than 10 days prior to arrival in Saudi Arabia, along with the other vaccines including Polio, seasonal influenza, measles, rubella etc. The meningococcal meningitis vaccine protects against meningococcal diseases, a serious bacterial infection.
The problem for meningococcal meningitis vaccine started after the government in June this year changed annual turnover criteria for the vaccine supplying company from 20 crores to 50 crores. The Biomed Private Limited company which has been supplying vaccine since 2008 asked for a waiver. However, the ministry did not pay to the heeds after which the manufacturer went to the CCI challenging the ministry’s decision for changing the criteria.
