Japanese pharma company calls in anti-TB vaccine from Kazakhstan

AKIPRESS.COM - The Japanese pharma company producing anti-TB vaccine is calling in series of its drugs from Kazakhstan, they will be replaced with some Indian analogues, Chairman of the committee of control of quality and security of goods and services of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan Lyudmila Byurabekova said, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. "Over the last 14 years, our country has been using Japanese vaccine that showed its affectiveness and a minimum number of complications in post-vaccination period. However, today the Japanese producer informed the Ministry that it takes back 33 series of vaccine from 35 countries. 5 series out of these 33 were supplied to our country," she told a press conference in Nur-Sultan on Wednesday.
The reason for recall of vaccine against tuberculosis is detection of a foreign substance in the solvent for vaccine, which was revealed during the process of packing. In this regard, the company decided to seize these series of vaccine from market and suspension of vaccination, according to her.
To continue vaccination, the Ministry of Health is purchasing vaccine from Indian company Serum.
According to Byurabekova, more than 370 thousand newborns and about 230 thousand school children are vaccinated in the country in a year. The TB incidence in Kazakhstan over the last 20 years reduced by 2.5 times, and mortality - by 15.3 times, she noted.