Rs 500 m spent for vaccines

Priyan DE SILVA, Matara correspondent

Rs 500 million is spent to purchase immunization vaccines annually, said Health Ministry's Consultant epidemiologist Dr Ananda Amarasingha. He was addressing a workshop for provincial journalists in the Southern Province.

Immunization programs are carried out to eliminate communicable diseases such as Polio, Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, Hemophilias Influenza type B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Japanese encephalitis. Sir Lanka's immunization program was one of the most successful programs in the world, he said.

He said only vaccines conforming to the standards and specifications set by the World Health Organization and acceptable to the Drug Regulatory Authority Epidemiology Unit and National Vaccine Control Lab are imported to the country. The Epidemiology Unit monitors the transportation and storage of all vaccines.