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Thursday, September 30, 2010

India : Encephalitis deaths in UP due to a failed vaccine drive?

Via NDTV :

" Gorakhpur: On Sunday, five-year-old Mahima died of Japanese Encephalitis. She was the 219th victim in Uttar Pradesh since January 2010.

Since 2005, over 3,000 children have died of Japanese Encephalitis in the state. Experts believe the reason behind is a failed vaccine drive.Every year, the Centre is unable to provide required number of vaccines on time.

And whatever little arrives, even that is not fully used by the state.''Yes, it has been some sort of failure," admits the state's Additional Director (Health), UK Srivastav.

'If the Centre could not provide the vaccine, isn't it the duty of the state to source it? The vaccines cost barely 30-odd crores, which is nothing compared to the thousands of crores spent on building memorials. Or should the government simply let people die,'' says Dr. RMD Agarwal, a paediatrician and a BJP MLA."

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