Health Ministry dismisses report of fake vaccines being sold in the country

The Health Ministry said there have been no reports of fake vaccine being sold in the country amidst the controversy surrounding Indonesia's discovery of a fake vaccine syndicate.

When contacted by Bernama here today, press secretary to Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. S.Subramaniam, K.Sivakumar confirmed there have been no sales of fake vaccines, but said the ministry was working closely with the Home Ministry in monitoring such illegal activities from entering the country.

"There is no sales of fake vaccines here and we are constantly monitoring the flow of medicines and vaccines into the country," he said when asked to comment on behalf of the ministry on whether constant checks were being made to monitor such sales due to Indonesia's revelation of the scandal.

"We have not received any reports on the sale of fake vaccines in the country," he said.

The Indonesian press recently revealed that the syndicate was a huge business operation where fake vaccines were administered by doctors and nurses and mixed with antibiotics, as vaccinations including for hepatitis C, hepatitis A, measles, tetanus and whooping cough were made available to adults as well as children.