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YLKI claims cartel behind fake-vaccine scandal
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An employee checks vaccine packages before they are delivered at PT Bio Farma's facility in Bandung, West Java, on July 15. (ANTARA FOTO/Fahrul Jayadiputra)
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ndonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairman Tulus Abadi has called on the government to further investigate the fake-vaccine case, saying that a pharmaceutical industry cartel was behind the distribution of the counterfeit vaccines.
According to him, the cartel profited from the expensive imported vaccines, and the government should have assigned state-owned vaccine producer Biofarma to manufacture the vaccines instead of importing them.
"They counterfeit the imported vaccines because of the expensive price, while imports are not enough to meet the local need," Tulus said as quoted by kompas.com in a discussion on the counterfeit drugs and vaccines in Jakarta on Sunday.
(Read also : Fake vaccines are not dangerous: Pediatrics body)
Biofarma is a globally-acknowledged vaccine manufacturer that has exported its pharmaceutical products to 130 countries. "We have a prominent state-owned enterprise, so why do we import vaccines? I believe there is a cartel behind this," Tulus said.
Currently, Biofarma’s serum production is limited to generic vaccines, which usually gives recipients a fever as a side effect. The imported vaccines are infused with anti-fever formula.
Tulus speculated that the pharmaceutical industry cartel had been operating in the country for years, especially as Indonesia still depended on imported raw materials for drug ingredients. “The raw materials are 100 percent imported,” he said. (ags)
