Prices double as private vaccines flood market

NEW DELHI: The Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) seems to have slipped almost entirely into the grip of the private sector as the government's vaccine institutes that were reopened in February 2010 after being shut down two years ago are yet to contribute in any significant way. In the process, the cost of most vaccines has more than doubled since 2006-07.

Barring oral polio vaccine, the cost of other routine vaccines that added up to a little over a quarter of the annual routine immunization budget has increased to account for more than 50% of the entire budget, shows the response to an RTI application filed with the Vaccine Procurement Cell in the health ministry by Dr K V Babu, central council member of the Indian Medical Association.

In 2006-07, over 90% of the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) vaccine doses and over 80% of the tetanus toxoid vaccine used for UIP were supplied by the Pasteur Institute of India (PII) in Coonoor and the Central Research Institute (CRI) in Kasauli. In 2012-13, the two institutes together barely produced 36% of the DPT vaccines used and 23% of the TT vaccine used for the UIP.

The price of DPT vaccine has more than doubled between 2006-07 and 2012, going up from Rs 12 to Rs 28 per vial of ten doses. Similarly, the price of TT vaccine has gone up from Rs 6 to Rs 15.

The BCG Vaccine Laboratory in Guindy, Chennai was the sole supplier of BCG vaccine for the UIP. The government is now entirely dependent on the private sector as no other government institute produces BCG vaccine. The two other manufacturers of BCG vaccine, Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune and Green Signal Bio-Pharma Ltd in Chennia, are private companies. Since 2008, the price of BCG has gone up from Rs 13 to Rs 30 per vial of ten doses.

Interestingly, the least increase in cost has been in the case of measles, where prices have risen by less than 25% despite the demand for doses in 2012-13 being five times what it was in 2006-07. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the measles vaccine was the one that already had a private monopoly even in 2006-07.

The three government institutes, which produced the bulk of the vaccines required for the basic immunisation programme against six diseases, were shut down in 2008 reportedly for not being compliant with good manufacturing practices (GMP) by then health minister Anbumani Ramadoss. This move was sharply criticised by the parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare which observed that it was the government's responsibility to invest in its own institutes to ensure they were GMP complaint instead of using that as an excuse to shut them down leaving the UIP at the mercy of the private sector.

Though all three institutes were reopened in February 2010, so far, the BCG Vaccine Laboratory has not produced a single dose of vaccine for the immunisation programme and PII Coonoor and CRI Kasauli have been producing a fraction of what they used to supply earlier.

The two other vaccines in the basic UIP are OPV and measles vaccine. For the measles vaccine, the RTI reply of the vaccine procurement unit of the ministry lists only one supplier, the Serum Institute of India in Pune, though the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) lists Indian Immunological Ltd and Human Biologicals Institute, two government units, as suppliers too. However, they do not seem to produce any significant amount. A measles vaccine dose currently costs the government over Rs 10.

In the case of OPV vaccine, the biggest suppliers seem to be two private companies Panacea Biotech Ltd and Bharat Biotech International Ltd in Hyderabad, which seem to meet the bulk of the demand. Though BIBCOl Bulandshahr, a government institute, and Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Ltd in Mumbai, a public sector unit (PSU), are listed as producers of OPV, their contribution seems negligible, going by the data of the CBHI.

The government units which made an insignificant contribution to the UIP were not chosen for being closed down. It is the units which contributed to a large share of the immunisation programme's demand that were shut down, resulting in the entire market for the vaccines produced by these units being turned over to the private companies.

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City Answers Gang-Rape Cover-Up Allegations












As Steubenville, Ohio, prepares for the high-profile rape trial of two high school football players, officials, battling allegations of a cover-up, announced the creation of a new website today to debunk rumors and create what they said would be a transparent resource for the community.


"This site is not designed to be a forum for how the Juvenile Court ought to rule in this matter," the website, called Steubenville Facts, said.


A timeline of the case, beginning with the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl at a party on Aug. 11-12, 2012, is posted on the site. Summaries of Ohio law relating to the case and facts about the local police force including statistics on how many graduated from Steubenville schools, is included.


The case gained national attention last week when hacking collective Anonymous leaked a video of Steubenville high school athletes mocking the 16-year-old female victim and making crude references to the alleged rape.






Steubenville Herald-Star, Michael D. McElwain/AP Photo







"It's disgusting, and I've had people calling, numerous people call here, upset, they have seen it, one woman, two women were crying, because of what they witnessed," Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said. "It really is disgusting to watch that video."


Anonymous has called for more arrests, however Steubenville Police have said their hands are tied.


"Steubenville Police investigators are caring humans who recoil and are repulsed by many of the things they observe during an investigation," the website said, addressing the video. "Like detectives in every part of America and the world, they are often frustrated when they emotionally want to hold people accountable for certain detestable behavior but realize that there is no statute that allows a criminal charge to be made."


Occupy Steubenville, a grassroots group, estimated 1,300 people attended a rally today outside the Jefferson County Courthouse, where rape victims and their loved ones gathered to share their stories.


The father of a teenage rape victim was met with applause when he shared his outrage.


"I've tried to show my girl that not all men are like this, but only a despicable few," he said. "And their mothers that ignore the truth that they gave birth to a monster."


Authorities investigated the case and charged two Steubenville high school athletes on Aug. 22, 2012.


The teenagers face trial on Feb. 13, 2013 in juvenile court before a visiting judge.


Attorneys for the boys have denied charges in court.



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Supreme Court to examine Indian Child Welfare Act requirements in adoption dispute



The South Carolina Supreme Court, saying it acted with a “heavy heart,” agreed that Matt and Melanie Capobianco had to return Veronica, now 3, to her father Dusten Brown, a registered member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. The court voted 3-2 that the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, passed to make it harder to remove children from Indian parents, trumped state law.


The Capobiancos “are ideal parents who have exhibited the ability to provide a loving family environment” for the little girl, Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal wrote. But “because this case involves an Indian child, the ICWA applies and confers conclusive custodial preference to the Indian parent.”

Veronica has been living with Brown and his parents in Oklahoma since the beginning of 2012.

The case is called
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl
, and no names are used in the court documents.

But the battle over Veronica has attracted national attention, with the Capobiancos pleading their case on “Dr. Phil” and Indian activists defending the law as a necessary measure to protect tribal heritage and an answer to generations of abuse in removing children from their Indian parents.

The Supreme Court has experience in the emotional toll of such cases. Justice Antonin Scalia for years has said a previous case involving the ICWA was one of the toughest of his career.

In that 1989 case, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, Scalia was in the majority saying the law required tribal courts to make decisions about Indian adoptions, even though it meant toddler twins might have to be removed from their adoptive parents. (In the end, a tribal court decided to leave the children where they were.)

The facts of the current case are no less wrenching. Veronica is the product of what appears to be a stormy relationship between Brown and Veronica’s mother. The two became in engaged in December 2008, and she informed him a month later that she was pregnant. Brown at the time was serving in the Army in Oklahoma.

Brown advocated for moving up the wedding; Veronica’s mother resisted, and the relationship soured. She broke it off in a text message in April.

In June, she asked Brown if he wanted to support the child or give up his parental rights. He replied, in another text message, that he would give up his rights. He said later he meant to pressure his former fiance to reconsider marriage.

But the mother, who already had two other children by another father, had by then decided to give up the baby, and the Capobiancos were eager to adopt. Matt Capobianco works for Boeing, and his wife, Melanie, has a PhD in developmental psychology. Matt Capobianco cut the umbilical cord when Veronica was born.

But Brown said that he was shocked when, just before shipping out for Iraq, he learned that the child was being put up for adoption. He called a lawyer and started the legal process that has arrived at the Supreme Court.

A South Carolina family court judge and a majority of the state supreme court said the ICWA mandates a clear preference for keeping the child with her biological Indian father, and there is no evidence that he is not a fit parent.

Both Veronica’s mother and a guardian appointed to look out for the child’s interests sided with the Capobiancos, as did Justice John W. Kittredge.

He said the court’s majority “has recast the facts to portray Father in an undeserved favorable light. . . . The reality is Father purposely abandoned this child and no amount of revisionist history can change that truth.”

The Supreme Court will look at whether it matters under the federal law that Brown is an unwed father who had given up his rights to the child. The justices will likely hear the case in April, along with two other cases accepted Friday.

One, United States v. Davila, concerns a federal judge’s role in a defendant’s decision to accept a plea bargain. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta said a magistrate judge’s involvement leading to the plea deal means the guilty plea must be thrown out. Other courts have said the plea should be overturned only if the judge’s action could be seen as inducing the defendant to take the deal.

The other, Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann, concerns a water dispute between Fort Worth and Oklahoma over drawing water from the Red River.

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Tennis: Tsonga withdraws from Sydney event with injury






SYDNEY, Jan 5, 2013 (AFP) - French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has withdrawn from next week's Sydney International with a hamstring injury, tournament organisers said on Saturday.

The world number eight pulled out of the last major lead-up event to this month's Australian Open after suffering the injury playing for France in the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth on Friday.

"Unfortunately Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sustained an injury in Perth and has been forced to pull out of the Apia International Sydney with a left hamstring injury," tournament director Craig Watson said.

"We wish him a speedy recovery and all the best for a successful Australian Open."

Tsonga became the second top seed to drop out of the Sydney event after French compatriot Richard Gasquet, the world number 10, pulled out for personal reasons, organisers said.

- AFP/fa



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Centre seeks proposals on CCTV inside state buses

NEW DELHI: Centre has asked the state public transport corporations to send proposals on installing CCTV cameras inside their buses and setting up of monitoring station for keep track of the bus movements even on rural routes. Based on their fund requirement, the Centre would step in to provide financial assistance for vehicle and passenger safety.

The proposal was made on Thursday at the executive committee meeting of Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ARSTUs) under the chairmanship of Union road transport secretary AK Upadhyaya. Sources said that the ministry is keen to provide aid to the STUs under its scheme to implement IT initiatives for better functioning of government owned public buses.

"We will send our proposals. Installation of CCTVs inside buses to keep eye on the activities is a good move, but we need to have proper monitoring centres. Moreover you need to be linked to local police so that they can take action in case of an emergency," said a senior official of a state transport corporation from south India said. He added that most of the major STUs operating buses in cities are going for global positioning system (GPS).

Mumbai's BEST and Andhra's APSRTC are some of the main corporations which are showing interest in this regard. The need for GPS and monitoring has gained importance due to the recent national uprising for women safety.

Sources said in the past two fiscal years, the road transport ministry has sanctioned Rs 71 crore to 15 SRTUs for IT projects. These transport bodies are investing another Rs 71 crores to implement the projects. ARSTU officials said another 30-40 transport corporations want the tracking system and to have a monitoring centre.

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Obama Poised to Name New Defense, Treasury Chiefs













With the "fiscal cliff" crisis behind him, President Obama is poised to name two new key players to his cabinet, with both announcements expected to come next week.


Obama will name the replacement for outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as soon as Monday, sources told ABC News. Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is the likely nominee, they said.


Meanwhile, the president is also eyeing a replacement for outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the longest-serving member of Obama's first-term economic team and one-time lead negotiator for the administration in the "fiscal cliff" talks.


Current chief of staff Jack Lew is all but certain to get the nod for Treasury, according to people familiar with Obama's thinking.


A White House spokesman cautioned that the president has not yet made a final decision on either post, calling reports about Hagel and Lew "merely guessing."


Still, when Obama returns from his Hawaiian vacation on Sunday, he's expected to waste little time filling out his team for a second term.


Geithner has said he would remain at his post "until around the inauguration" Jan. 20, a Treasury spokesperson said Thursday, putting the department potentially in transition just as the administration confronts the next financial "cliffs" over automatic spending cuts and the nation's debt limit.






Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images











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During an appearance on ABC's "This Week" in April, Geithner said the next Treasury secretary would need to be someone who is "willing to tell [Obama] the truth and, you know, help him do the tough things you need to do."


Lew, a former two-time Office of Management and Budget director and trusted Obama confidant who has held the chief of staff role since early 2012, is the front-runner for the job.


Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry -- Obama's nominee to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- has begun making more regular appearances at the U.S. State Department before his expected confirmation later this month.


His Senate hearings are set to begin shortly after Obama's inauguration, sources say. The administration still expects Clinton to testify about the Sept. 11 Benghazi, Libya, attacks before Kerry is confirmed.


But it is the potential nomination of Republican Hagel that has caused the most stir.


Critics from across the political spectrum have taken aim at the former senator from Nebraska's record toward Israel and what some have called a lack of experience necessary to lead the sprawling Pentagon bureaucracy or its operations. The controversy has set the stage for what would be a contentious confirmation process.


"A lot of Republicans and Democrats are very concerned about Chuck Hagel's position on Iran sanctions, his views toward Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah, and that there is wide and deep concern about his policies," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told "Fox News Sunday."


He would not say whether Republicans felt so strongly as to expect a filibuster of the nomination.


"I can tell you there would be very little Republican support for his nomination," Graham said. "At the end of the day, they will be very few votes."


Still, Hagel, 66, a former businessman and decorated veteran who served in the Vietnam War, has won praise and admiration from current and former diplomats for his work on Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board and Panetta's Policy Advisory Board.





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Federal agencies bracing for cuts after ‘fiscal cliff’ deal



The eleventh-hour agreement to avoid a “fiscal cliff” of higher taxes put off the major cuts known as a sequester until March 1, when another showdown is expected over the federal debt limit and how much to reduce the size of government.


Congress and the White House agreed to find $24 billion to pay for the delay, divided between spending cuts and a tax change that allows Americans holding traditional retirement plans to convert more of them to Roth IRAs, a process that requires tax payments up front.

The remaining $12 billion in cuts to domestic and defense agencies will not take effect until at least March 27, when the stopgap budget funding the government expires. The first $4 billion in cuts must come by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, and the remaining $8 billion in fiscal 2014, which will start Oct. 1.

The cuts will be rolled into budget deliberations on Capitol Hill, and no one knows what agencies and programs they will affect. Out of a discretionary spending budget of $1.04 trillion, $12 billion is relatively small. But it’s not a rounding error.

“There will be a few select cuts that will be painful,” said Patrick Lester, fiscal policy director at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (formerly OMB Watch). “We won’t know for months what those cuts are, which makes them easy to do.”

William R. Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said $12 billion “spread across the government doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but it depends on how it’s spread out.”

Even if each agency took a hit, some “will still be looking at furloughs and even [reductions in force] as a possible solution,” he said. Those are some of the near-certain actions many agencies have said they would take if they had to make the across-the-board cuts Congress imposed in 2011 to force itself to reckon with the federal deficit.

On Wednesday, government and union leaders said that threat, just two months away, is making them nervous.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Congress has “prevented the worst possible outcome by delaying sequestration for two months.”

But he warned that the “the specter of sequestration” threatens national security.

“We need to have stability in our future budgets,” Panetta said in a statement. “We need to have the resources to effectively execute our strategy, defend the nation, and meet our commitments to troops and their families after more than a decade of war.”

Several officials said they are still sorting out what the two-month delay means.

“We are working hard with [the Office of Management and Budget] to understand the impact, but we’re just not there yet,” said Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Robbins, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

Defense consultant Jim McAleese said the deal to raise taxes on families with income above $450,000 and individuals earning more than $400,000 will bring in so much less revenue than the $250,000 threshold President Obama proposed that steep defense cuts are inevitable.

Instead of the $10 billion in cuts a year over 10 years that the Defense Department could have expected to see under Obama’s most recent deficit reduction plan, McAleese said the reductions could be more in the range of $15 billion to $20 billion a year over 10 years.

“People were talking before about defense cuts of $10 billion per year, but the sheer size of the disagreement is going to bring about an immediate, aggressive reaction that will impact the final outcome of the spending cuts,” he said.

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said of the $12 billion in cuts, “I would hope agencies could find these savings without impacts on front-line employees and without impacts on services to the public. We have more questions than answers right now.”

Steve Vogel contributed to this report.

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Australian soy milk action widened to Japanese firms






SYDNEY: Hundreds of Australians who became sick after drinking soy milk containing dangerously high levels of iodine have widened their class action to include two Japanese companies, lawyers said.

About 600 Australians became ill after consuming Bonsoy milk, many suffering thyroid problems, up until the product was withdrawn from sale in late 2009, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers said late Thursday.

The case against the Australian brand owner Spiral Foods launched in the Victorian Supreme Court in 2010 had been widened to include manufacturer Marusan-ai Co Ltd and exporter Muso Co Ltd, the firm said.

"We say that these three companies had test results in mid-2006 which showed that Bonsoy contained extremely high levels of iodine, but they did nothing," said senior associate Irina Lubomirska in a statement.

Lubomirska said the companies had breached consumer protection laws in Australia and Japan.

"None of the three companies did anything to ensure that Bonsoy, which was marketed and sold as a premium health-food soy brand, was in fact safe to consume," she said.

The class action alleges that Spiral requested a reformulation of Bonsoy to include iodine-rich kombu instead of adding salt and that as a result the product had contained excessive iodine since mid-2003.

It also alleges that consumer concerns about iodine were repeatedly dismissed.

Victims are seeking compensation for medical expenses and loss of income as well as for the pain and suffering.

By the time Bonsoy was recalled in late 2009, after Australian authorities discovered that one glass contained seven times the upper safe dose of iodine for adults, it had been on the market for six years, Maurice Blackburn said.

Because it was touted as a healthy product, some consumers had increased their intake when they became ill, Lubomirska added.

A directions hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 8.

-AFP/ac



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