T

he recent discovery of a nationwide counterfeit vaccine ring has revealed gross negligence and weak monitoring by the government as more cases of fake vaccines are discovered.

The House of Representatives has lambasted the Health Ministry and the Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) for being reckless in supervising the distribution of vaccines.

During Monday’s hearing, House Commission IX overseeing health and manpower blasted the ministry and agency for underestimating the matter and ignoring public anxiety.

“The distribution happened for 10 years. It doesn’t make sense for the Health Ministry to not know about it. Health officers are supposed to be able to differentiate a real vaccine from a fake one, even from the price difference,” Irma Suryani Chaniago of the NasDem Party said.

The lawmakers are also speculating that the matter might involve pharmacists working at hospitals or ministry staff.

National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Saleh Daulay said that the dereliction violated both the Health Law and Constitution.

He, and other lawmakers at the meeting, were displeased with Health Minister Nila Moeloek’s explanation on her official Twitter account about the fake vaccines, in which she said that fake vaccines had account for 1 percent out total vaccine distribution and that parents only needed to take their children to the nearest public health clinic to be administered with real vaccines.

“Lawmakers spend time fighting for bigger budgets, but their poor performance can endanger lives,” Saleh said.

During the hearing, the two bodies were unable to answer the lawmakers’ questions about the monitoring procedures. The BPOM has yet to explain the contents of the vaccines, claiming that the agency had not received a sample as the police were holding the vaccines as evidence.

“We already collected samples from 25 hospitals and are checking them at our laboratory, but it will take three days to see the results,” said acting BPOM chairman Tengku Bahdar Johan Hamid.

The National Police have expanded its investigation after uncovering operations in Central Java and Riau.

National Police Criminal Investigation Corps (Bareksrim) director Brig. Gen. Agung Setya said Semarang Police in Central Java had arrested two distributors of fake vaccines, identified only by the initials T and M.

“There are 15 suspects. We are investigating whether they have ties,” Agung told journalists at the National Police headquarters.

The police had earlier arrested 13 suspects; eight fake vaccine plant owners, two distributors, two couriers and one maker of counterfeit labels during raids in Bekasi, South Tangerang, Jakarta, Bogor and Subang between June 16 and 23.

The suspects have allegedly counterfeited and distributed imported vaccines for hepatitis, tetanus, pertussis and diphtheria.

“We will expand our investigation to Yogyakarta […], while four hospitals, two pharmacies and two drug stores in Jakarta had stocks of fake vaccines,” Agung said.

The discovery is proof the government is not doing its job, said Marius Widjajarta, Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) chairman.

He said that he had filed a report with the BPOM in 2014 regarding not fake drugs circulating in public health facilities, but also fake vaccines.

“In May 2015, I discovered a fake BCG vaccine in a clinic in Jakarta, which obtained the vaccine from community health centers [Puskesmas]. I knew that because it said on the label that the vaccine expired in November 2014, but the expiration date on the vial said March 2014. The label had been swapped,” Marius said.

He believes fake vaccines may have been circulating in public health clinics because Puskesmas can procure vaccines on their own if the value is under Rp 50 million (US$3,700), thus opening up the possibilities of them buying fake vaccines.

Fake vaccine circulation in drug stores has also gone largely unnoticed.

While Health Ministerial Regulation No. 35/2014 states that the Health Ministry and regional health agencies should monitor pharmacies around the country, they do not have the capacity to do so as the ministry only acts as a regulator.

“The Health Ministry doesn’t have investigators, unlike the BPOM which has investigators and regional agencies [BBPOM] in each regions,” Marius said. (wnd)