Indonesian President Promises to Overhaul Drug
Regulator Amid Fake Vaccine Scandal
The
president of Indonesia has committed to overhauling the country’s drug
regulator in response to a counterfeit vaccine scandal. Joko Widodo took the
action following weeks in which public outcry has increased in lockstep with
awareness of the scale of the scandal and the regulatory shortcomings it has
exposed.
Officials
at the Indonesia National Agency of Drug and Food Control (NA-DFC) became the
focal point for public anger after they were accused of first learning of the
fake vaccine problem in 2013. If true, the accusation would mean some
regulatory officials knew for several years about a syndicate that imported
fake vaccines and supplied them to hospitals, pharmacies and clinics, but did
little to stop the criminal activity until a police investigation forced their
hands. The syndicate is reported to have operated for a decade.
Police
stumbled upon the vaccine ring after arresting a pharmacist on suspicion of
operating without a license in May. This led to an investigation and close to
20 more arrests. Now, with Widodo trying to show he has a grip on the
situation, the fallout is set to reshape NA-DFC. “We can't be half-hearted with
this vaccine problem,” Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said in a statement to
Reuters to confirm the president’s intention to fix shortcomings at the
regulator. “With this we hope that this kind of thing won't be repeated.”
While
Widodo has gone after NA-DFC, parliament has been pressuring the ministry of
health to share information about which hospitals and clinics procured the fake
vaccines. The ministry responded this week by releasing a list of 14 health
facilities in the Jakarta area that are thought to have bought and administered
fake vaccines. Each of the health facilities is a private operation. The
ministry claims the supply chains used by government-owned facilities were free
from the counterfeit vaccines.
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