Date:16/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/16/stories/2008051660091200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Syringes supplied by Centre are defective: Panneerselvam

Ramya Kannan

Some had rusted, others had dust inside cylinder, says the Minister

CHENNAI: State Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam on Thursday wrote to Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, complaining that auto disable (AD) syringes supplied by the Centre were defective.

In December 2007, the Centre had sent a consignment of the AD syringes to Tamil Nadu. It was found that the needles of some syringes in this batch had rusted and some of them had dust inside the cylinder, rendering them completely unusable for the vaccination programme, Mr. Panneerselvam alleged.

He said if the State were to use the syringes, the entire vaccination programme would be affected and the progress hitherto achieved reversed.

The issue was raised after health workers in Tiruchi found that the needles of some syringes had rusted. The syringes that come under the brand name BD Solo Shot IX were imported from Spain, according to Health Department officials.

A total of 102 such syringes were found in Batch 0612048 (expiry date November 2011) in Tiruchi. As soon as reports about these defective needles were received, all district health officials were instructed to check their stocks of AD syringes and report any defective pieces. Since then, reports have also come in from Dindigul district.

Pointing out the defects in the samples sent to Tamil Nadu, Mr. Panneerselvam also cautioned that other States might have also received defective samples and urged the Union Minister to advise all State governments in this regard.

Through his letter, Mr. Panneerselvam also said the Centre should take steps to procure and provide Tamil Nadu with quality AD syringes immediately.

Director of Public Health P. Padmanabhan said the State had ordered that all the AD syringes received from the Centre be discarded immediately. The health workers are expected to use ordinary syringes.

Five samples of the defective syringes were sent to the Union Health Ministry on May 9 and a note was appended with a request to take immediate action.

Anbumani responds

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, responding to Mr. Panneerselvam’s letter, told The Hindu that he had instructed the Drug Controller General of India to send out teams throughout the country to pick up samples of AD syringes from the particular manufacturer.

“These syringes will be examined and tested. The Drug Controller will be ready with a report within a week,” Dr. Anbumani said over phone from New Delhi.