Pentavalent: Health Ministry panel approves pan-India coverage

A key Health Ministry advisory panel has given technical clearance for scaling up introduction of pentavalent vaccine at national level, moving a step closer to its pan-India coverage.
The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has in its meeting last month recommended national scale-up of the pentavalent vaccine.
The vaccine, which was recommended by NTAGI in 2008 to be added to the universal immunisation programme, has been introduced in a phased manner since 2011 in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi.
The NTAGI has approved the national scale up of the pentavalent vaccine along with activities to monitor for potential adverse events of the vaccine, after the technical subcommittee of the Group recommended the expansion.

The NTAGI is chaired by Union Health Secretary. Decks have now been cleared for introduction of the vaccine across the country, pending administrative and financial implications.
"There is no technical hitch in introducing the vaccine in all states, but the Ministry will have to work out the financial and administrative aspects before doing so," said a Ministry official.

The pentavalent vaccine provides protection against five life threatening diseases - Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b) and will help in reducing the number of shots a child receives from nine to three.
The recommendation of pan-introduction of the vaccine comes despite recent concerns over the vaccine safety which saw a number of infant deaths in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The National Adverse Events Following Immunisation Committee (AEFI), which investigated the reported deaths in Kerala following pentavalent vaccine administration, has submitted a report to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that they were not causally related to the pentavalent vaccine.
The recommendation of the committee to further strengthen the AEFI surveillance systems has been accepted by NTAGI, the sources said.
Pneumonia is the leading killer of children under five years of age in India. According to WHO, Hib accounts for at least 3 million cases of serious disease and approximately 386000 deaths every year across the world. It is estimated that Hib caused 72,000 deaths, 2.3 million cases of pneumonia, and 35,000 cases of meningitis in India in 2000.