The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has formed a seven-member committee of experts to review and prepare an answer to the recent High Court ruling to discontinue vitamin A capsule distribution among children aged under five years.
The committee was formed on Wednesday, with Maj Gen Md Jahangir Hossain Mollik, director general of drugs administration, as the head, and Dr Md Shah Newaz, director of the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition, as member secretary.
Dr Shah Newaz confirmed the committee’s formation and said the experts would soon sit to review the HC ruling and prepare a response accordingly.
The hearing for the suo moto rule will take place on October 20, he said.
The HC order came following a report published in a national Bangla daily last month that claimed the vitamin A capsules were not safe. It alleged that the capsules, bought from an Indian company, were not clinically tested and were of substandard quality.
The HC ordered the health secretary, the directorate general of drug administration and others related to the campaign to stop distributing the capsules and asked why the campaign should not be declared illegal.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Dr Shah Newaz claimed the vitamin A capsules administered to the children were safe, and there had been no reports of problems in the last campaign, which took place on April 5.
“The DGHS does not acquire these capsules,” he said. “As per the existing rules, the Central Medicine Store Depot (CMSD) purchases the capsules through international tender procedure.”
He also said the capsules were tested in a World Health Organisation-accredited laboratory in Singapore.
“The CMSD sent a random sample to the laboratory for testing, and the report’s soft and hard copies came back on January 28 and March 20, respectively,” he said.
Health experts said the ban on vitamin A distribution may lead to health hazards among children as they need regular doses to strengthen their immune system. It is to be noted that the vitamin needs to be administered every six months for full effect.
The DGHS planned to administer the next dose of vitamin A tentatively on October 25, maintaining the six-month interval between two doses, as sources told the Dhaka Tribune.
The committee will present the evidence of laboratory test before the court and ask permission to resume the distribution before the six-month interval expires, said several members of the committee while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.
