ISLAMABAD: Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi on Sunday directed the heads of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to take urgent steps to ensure fast-track availability of the anti-rabies vaccines in the government hospitals of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and remove all bureaucratic bottlenecks in this regard.
In response to a public complaint received recently in his office, the federal ombudsman took serious notice of the non-availability of this essential vaccine in the capital’s government hospitals and summoned the senior officials of both these organizations on 9 January 2024 to unearth the root cause of the situation. He had also directed the DRAP to thoroughly investigate why the NIH was not manufacturing this essential vaccine.
As a follow-up measure, the office of the ombudsman immediately issued a notice to both these organizations, and the Registrar of the Wafaqi Mohtasib initiated a probe into the matter.
Causes of Vaccines’ Shortage
It was revealed that apart from lengthy official procedures, bureaucratic delays, mismanagement, gross negligence, and dollar rate fluctuation resulted in this unfortunate situation.
He has directed that responsibility may be fixed for the shortage of this essential vaccine, and necessary measures may be initiated to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
The Office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib is vigorously following up on the issue, and all the stakeholders have assured that they would spare no effort in this regard.
It may also be noted that two hearings have already been held in the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s office in this regard, which the representatives of the organizations concerned attended.
