Immunisation guidelines prepared by the Indian Academy of Paediatricians recommending vaccines for children are tweaked to include products of companies that fund the association’s conferences and refresher courses, alleged the convenor of the academy, according to The Times of India report.
The TOI reported:
Dr Vipin Vashishtha, the convener of IPA's Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation Practices, wrote to president Dr Anupam Sachdeva that Immunisation guidelines are tweaked to include products of the funding companies, and the technical committee members who decide the guidelines are on the board of vaccine companies and paid by them. Paediatricians too get hefty margins on vaccines they administer.
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The academy looks at the studies on various vaccines and best practices in various other countries, and makes a list of recommended vaccines. It tweaks the immunisation schedule every year.
A child is given around 19 vaccines through the first 14 weeks. Though some are optional, parents rarely overlook the paediatrician’s chart.
The report said that the letter was sent following a controversy over the removal of approved guidelines from the website of the association’s journal, which Vashishtha sought to know if it was done at the behest of the industry.
"Vashishtha had written to Sachdeva and other ACVIP members several times in the past on various issues, including non-submission of conflict of interest declarations by members before taking part in the technical committee meetings," the paper reported.
