The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has asked the health departments of all states to discontinue the use of a particular batch of Hepatitis B vaccine supplied to government hospitals across the country. The ministry has written to all states that the Central Drug Laboratory, Kasauli, has found that the Batch No. 51AD12050 of Hepatitis B vaccines manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited are of substandard quality. Consequently, the mission director of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Haryana has written to all civil surgeons in Haryana to discontinue the use of this batch of vaccine till further orders.The civil surgeons have been asked to furnish details of the quantities available with them to the NRHM immediately. Hepatitis B vaccine is supplied to government health facilities for immunising children from Hepatitis B virus. Dr Surender Nain, civil surgeon at Sirsa, said he had received a communication from the mission director of the NRHM and a letter from the ministry, following which he had asked the chief pharmacist to check the stock of this particular batch. “As soon as I get a report, we will discontinue its use and send details of the stock immediately,” the civil surgeon said.