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Bad faith?

  • 30/01/2006

Bad faith? Most problems that bedevil the government's immunisation programme arise from a lack of regulation and confusion: on the ground and in the policy sphere. The lack of regulation is especially problematic given that the market and the big pharmaceutical companies play a big role in shaping global and national priorities.

Chicken pox provides a good example of unregulated marketing practices. In July last year, Ajay Gambhir, honorary secretary of the ima Academy of Medical Specialities, pointed this out in a letter to P K Hota, secretary, m o hfw. He pointed to an advertisement run in the national media by a company manufacturing chicken pox vaccine. The offending advertisement said "protect your adolescent child from marks on the face by taking chicken pox vaccination'. "Some of these companies are directly approaching schools

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