Vaccination victims(2)

Monopolies or competition?

There are five kinds of free vaccines in China - BCG(a tuberculosis vaccine), Hepatitis B, DPT (a combination vaccine for tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria), the measles, and polio. "Among these, the BCG and polio vaccines are live attenuated vaccines, but the polio pills cause the most accidents," Zhang said.

Some experts have suggested that cost is among the reasons why China still uses live attenuated vaccines.

"Technically, China would have no problem replacing the free live attenuated vaccines with the inactivated alternative. But the cost of the inactivated version is 10 times higher than the live attenuated one," Wang Yuedan, a vice chief of the immunology department of the Peking University Health Science Center, told the Nandu Daily.

"The free vaccines are only produced by a few State-owned companies, representing a monopoly. If the plants decided to produce inactivated vaccines, they would have to improve their production lines. The live-attenuated vaccines make a profit, why would they be motivated to do that?" Chen Tao'an, a former official from the Shanxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Nandu Daily.

Whilst the free vaccines face bottlenecks and monopolies, commercial vaccines face very different problems.

"There are too many plants producing commercial vaccines. And that makes it hard for the government in terms of quality regulation," Zhang told the Global Times.

Ultimately, most Chinese parents must have their children vaccinated.

"Kids are not allowed to go to kindergarten if they haven't had vaccinations," a Shandong mother surnamed Li who declined to be named told the Global Times Monday.

Zhao Kai, an official at the Beijing-based National Vaccine & Serum Institute, which is in charge of producing free vaccines, refused to comment on this issue to the Global Times Monday.

　　Abandoned families

Liability remains an issue.

After Wang's daughter's condition was diagnosed, doctors were cagey about the precise cause, refusing to confirm or deny it was the vaccine.

"These kinds of answers can be regarded as a positive answer, even though they are still vague," Zhou pointed out, adding that many parents were told it was a coincidence.

In Zhou's case, the hospital hadn't ruled it out so compensation was still on the table. Wang finally received 4,500 yuan ($733.8) to aid in medical costs, but was told it was an allowance and was not compensation, because there were no regulations suggesting the hospital should pay in these cases.

According to Article 46 of the national vaccine distribution and vaccination regulations released on June 1, 2005, victims of vaccines should be given a one-time allowance payout, the amount being defined by local regulations.

"Relevant regulations are missing in some provinces, leaving those families helpless," Zhang told the Global Times, suggesting that China should establish a fund to assist these families.