China prohibits wholesalers from trading vaccine in the country in the latest step to restore public trust in the nation’s health system that declined upon the emergence of a $90-million-worth vaccine scam in March.
According to Reuters, the country has been making "ambitious healthcare reforms" in order to improve its domestically developed vaccines but was impeded due to the emergence of the scandal.
The New Rules
On Monday, Premier Li Keqiang revealed a decree that amends the regulation on vaccine circulation, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"The decision to amend a regulation on vaccine circulation and use aims to address the problems identified by an investigation into the vaccine scandal," said an official statement cited by the outlet.
The reform entails an improvement in the cold-chain storage and distribution channels of vaccines, which will be traced via a soon-to-be established national vaccine tracking system.
This tracking system will require all enterprises and user agencies to record the circulation and use of vaccines so they may be able to trace every vaccine package anywhere during its entire life cycle.
The new rules also prohibit wholesalers of B-class, or non-compulsory, vaccines which county-level disease control institutions should only procure directly from manufacturers.
After procurement, these vaccines should be directly transported to hospitals which will remain under the jurisdiction of the organization of provincial-level disease control departments.
"Virtually all vaccine circulation must follow official arrangements," the outlet said.
Public Trust
After being struck by a multi-million-dollar "problematic" vaccine scam, Chinese parents have lost confidence in their country's health system that they have decided to fly to neighboring Hong Kong just to have their children immunized.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the vaccine scandal revealed major flaws in China's immunization system.
Based on the findings of the China Food and Drug Administration, some 29 companies and 16 clinics were discovered to have participated in the illegal distribution of the vaccines.
Aside from that, the Chinese vaccine regulation is much less stringent than the ones that are required, leaving a huge room for error and, in the case of the "problematic" vaccines, unlawful activities.
In fact, Peking University's School of Public Health professor Zhou Zijun told the outlet that though the vaccine manufacturers are strictly regulated, the distribution of the vaccines itself is weak.
Aside from that, optional vaccines are being sold at a higher price in legal outlets, hospitals and local clinics, leaving many with a big reason to go for low-cost channels.