China bans vaccine sales by drug wholesalers as it moves to restore confidence after scandal
Authorities raise fines for improper handling and prescribe the sack for officials who violate rules
China has banned drug wholesalers from selling vaccines, state media said on Monday, after a scandal in which about 570 million yuan (HK$680 million) worth of illegal vaccines were suspected of being sold in dozens of provinces.
The rules raise fines for improper handling of vaccines, and prescribe the sacking of government officials guilty of violations, Xinhua said.
China is pushing ambitious health-care reforms to improve its home-made medicines, but the vaccine scandal underscores the challenge facing the world’s second-biggest drug market in regulating its fragmented supply chain. The new rules, signed by Premier Li Keqiang and adopted on Saturday, toughen the requirements for the distribution of non-compulsory vaccines.
According to the new rules, B-class (non-compulsory) vaccines will be distributed in the same way as A-class ones, which are covered by the national compulsory immunisation programme. They now require county health officials to get the vaccines directly from manufacturers before sending them to hospitals, instead of going through wholesalers.