Auditors? report reveals ARV scam in State

HAVE RABID dogs taken over the streets in Uttar Pradesh? Else, how does one explain that 6.615 lakh anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) purchased by the health department in March were exhausted within two months. 

A rough calculation indicates that 1.20 lakh people might have visited hospitals for anti-rabies vaccines as five shots are given to a victim.

This is not a figment of imagination of a health department babu. The fact is that in the financial year 2005-06, the  health department spent Rs 2.45 crore on the purchase of ARV. Another one crore was spent by the UP Health System Development Project (UPHSDP).

The bulk of the purchase was made at the close of the financial year in March.  But the health department officials were surprised to know that at the end of May, ARV was not available in the stores of the chief medical officers (CMO) and chief medical superintendents (CMS).

Health department officials have pressed the panic button and floated another tender to purchase ARV. But where did the entire stock of vaccine go? Health department officers say order passed by the previous principal secretary that 80 per cent of the ARV stock would be supplied directly to the CMO and CMS was the reason for the disappearance of the vaccine.

“Earlier, the Central Medical Store Department (CMSD) supplied the stocks of ARV to the districts. Once the stock is supplied directly to CMO and CMS, we have no control over its utilisation”, said a health department officer.

But the report submitted by the auditors of the health department over utilisation of ARV a few months’ back speaks volume about the continuing ARV scam in the State.

The auditors have stated that during surprise check in government hospitals in east Uttar Pradesh, they found that not only the name of the patient was missing from the register, but also the registration fee was not submitted by the staff.

The vaccines were withdrawn on fake registration slips and were sold in the open market.

A single dose of ARV is purchased for Rs 207 by the health department, whereas in the open market its price is Rs 400. No fee is charged from the victims bitten by rabid dogs.

During investigation, it was found that from government stores the vaccine was sold in  the open market.

Auditors recovered several OPD slips of fake patients lying in the drug stores.