Vaccines are vital preventive medicines for primary health care, and are a significant component of a nation’s health security. The success of immunization program in any country depends more upon local realities and national policies, than any outward assistance. And the need for a proper vaccination policy becomes all the more urgent and important for a vast developing country like India, with a population of more than 1 billion people, and 25 million new births every year.

Experts recently called for a national policy on vaccination and continuous disease surveillance. The current Indian market for vaccines is estimated to be about US $260 million. India is among the main buyers and manufacturers of vaccines, locally as well as globally, and has traditionally intended at self-reliance in vaccine technologies and production. The country’s vaccination modules go by innumerable names, as part of a global program to achieve 100% immunization for 22 diseases by 2015.

The nationwide rate of success for the vaccination program is 42 %, with extensive regional variation, with Bihar at 11 percent and West Bengal at 44 percent. Tamil Nadu stands tall among the rest of the states with a success rate of more than 90 percent.

India’s vaccination story dates back to 1948 when the BCG vaccine was offered as resistance against tuberculosis (TB). Today even after sixty years, 17 million people are carrying the TB virus. BCG includes a DPT vaccine for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

The country needs nearly 60 million BCG vaccines annually, out of which 20 million are imported through the UN children’s agency UNICEF.

The tetanus immunization begins with the pregnant women. India has been waging a long battle, costing Rs.20 billion to skirt out polio. Despite this, the country has not achieved much progress in this regard. India is among the top 10 countries that have not yet managed to eradicate polio, with 60 cases of the disease traced in 2007 while 674 cases were reported last year.

A proper strategy involving contributions from both public and private sector need to be formulated and implemented on a case-by-case basis to make safe and effective vaccines available at affordable prices.

The Indian government should vigorously encourage independent policy research, cost-benefit studies, and wider national consultations on various phases of vaccination and public health so that it can take more informed choices on such matters.

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Via: Hindustantimes