An oral polio Vaccine strain that cannot revert to virulence is needed Wouldn't it be nice to have a better sort of oral polio Vaccine? Widespread use of the oral Vaccine has brought the eradication of polio tantalisingly within reach. Since 1988 when the world embarked on an effort to wipe out the disease entirely, the number of cases has fallen by 99.8 per cent. Developed by an American scientist, Albert Sabin,...

-The Hindu With emphasis in the 12th Plan on the social services sectors for achieving more inclusive growth, the Delhi Budget has allocated Rs.9,796 crore or 65 per cent of the total Plan outlay of Rs.15,000 for 2012-13 on this sector. The money, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, will be used for various social welfare schemes. These include the Dilli Annashree Scheme, under which two lakh vulnerable households would be provided food...

Health activists say new policy may not address the weaknesses in ongoing routine immunisation programmes and would flood poor countries with new Vaccines When the global health leaders meet in Geneva from May 21 to 26 for the World Health Organization's 65th General Assembly, introducing new Vaccines in the low- and middle-income countries would be high on their agenda. A “global draft Vaccine action plan”, available on WHO's website, details the implementation...

The debate about essential-medicine pricing and access in India illustrates the difficulties inherent in establishing policies that serve conflicting public interests in achieving goals such as caring well and ensuring safety for all, while also pursuing financially-sustainable success in scientific innovation and trade. It highlights problems facing those interested in continuing drug and Vaccines development and ensuring that, once marketed, such products contribute effectively to improving public health. Modern pharmaceuticals...

Ignoring widespread concern over the safety, efficacy and cost of pentavalent Vaccines, India’s central health ministry has, this month, approved inclusion of the prophylactic cocktail in the universal immunisation programme in seven of its provinces. Pentavalent Vaccine doses, a cocktail of five antigens in a single shot, confers immunity against five paediatric diseases - diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), with the last one considered particularly...