NAGPUR: The yellow fever vaccination centre announced in the Daga Memorial Hospital in July 2016 is yet to take off. This is forcing the patients to either go to Mumbai or Hyderabad for the vaccination required for going to African and South American countries or to go to the only private centre in city, Hope Hospital. Hope is taking undue advantage of the situation and is charging Rs6,000 for a vaccine that costs just Rs1,875.Though the public health department claims that the centre will become functional in two months, persons travelling to any of the 33 African countries or 11 South American countries, which are endemic for yellow fever, are being taken for a ride by the Hope Hospital. Those going to Mumbai or Hyderabad also land up spending many times more in travelling to these cities. Dr Sanjay Jaiswal , the deputy director health services (DDHS), Nagpur circle told TOI that the process of starting the centre was going on the right pace in Daga and the centre will be functional in two months or so.Dr B K Murali, director Hope Hospital however sees no harm in charging Rs6,000 for the yellow fever come polio vaccine. "We follow all the WHO guidelines. We issue a valid certification. Also like the government sector we don't wait to accumulate 8-10 persons to open up a vial containing 10 vaccinations. We buy a single dose and administer it to every person that comes to us. On an average we get about six persons a month. There is no regulation which can fix up the service charges for us as a private hospital. We can charge what we think is appropriate," said Dr Murali.Harish Ganeshani, executive member Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council however strongly objects to this attitude of Hope hospital. "This is shear cheating of the people. It is completely unacceptable," he said. Ganeshani claims that the vaccine can be easily made available in market and given by even a MBBS doctor.Senior Medical Officer at the Daga Hospital Dr S S Chavan clarified that the centre is the process of taking shape. The staff of the hospital has already been trained in running the centre and administering the vaccine. "We are just waiting for the vaccines to reach the hospital. We have already put a notice inviting people to come and register themselves for the vaccine," said Dr Chavan.The state health department has already completed training of the staff for running the centre and administering the vaccine. But there is no vaccine available in the centre as yet. "There is a technical problem too with procuring of the vaccine. A single vial contains ten vaccines. So we have to wait at least for ten patients to register and give them the vaccines which is practically not feasible. Hence we are trying to procure vials with just two vaccines," said Dr Chavan.

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