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WHO urges China to boost vaccine regulation

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged China to strengthen its oversight of private immunizations. Vaccines sold in the private market aren't held to the same standards as those through the government-managed channel, said an immunization expert at the UN health body's China office. Private distribution stood at the heart of a scandal in which a pharmacist in Shandong province was found selling nearly expired vaccines to clinics across the country for several years. More than 130 people involved were detained and 20,000 doses were seized. Investigators also uncovered a long-standing collusion where government clinics have been selling expired or near-expired vaccines on the cheap to vendors, who then resold them to other clinics, especially in remote areas. China has run a nationwide program administering a set of free vaccinations for diseases such as polio and measles since the 1970's, whereas other vaccinations, such as those for flu and rabies, sold in the private market have been criticized for being under-regulated and under-supervised. The WHO has asked China to expand its set of free vaccines. Recent scandals and rising fears over drug safety have prompted regulators to be more vocal about cracking down on distribution channels. China's legislators tend to react quickly to issues that hit headlines and cause social unrest (take food safety, for instance). The CFDA will probably release rules targeting the drug supply chain—and most likely entailing heavy criminal liability—soon.

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