Pakistan’s health ministry has abolished the Border Health Services (BHS) vaccination setup and cancelled the pilgrim vaccine tender, after a prime ministerial inquiry found severe flaws and financial irregularities in the contract. Pilgrims must now arrange their mandatory vaccinations through travel agents until a new tender is issued.
The Ministry of National Health Services says a new procurement tender for meningococcal meningitis and influenza vaccines for overseas travellers will be issued within a month. The decision follows a high-level inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif into BHS.
What the inquiry found
The probe exposed serious flaws in a previously awarded public-private partnership contract. Dawn reports that BHS formed parallel procurement and grievance committees without ministry approval, ignoring the official procurement committee set up by the ministry.
The inquiry was triggered by allegations that the new contract inflated vaccination costs to about Rs4,500 per pilgrim, up sharply from around Rs1,250 under the previous arrangement. Seven companies have also petitioned the Islamabad High Court, challenging alleged irregularities in the bidding process.
Officials arrested, process halted
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal confirmed that the current vaccination process for religious pilgrims and overseas job seekers has been halted. He said all BHS officials involved in floating the unauthorised tender have been arrested for bypassing ministry oversight.
“I can assure that they will be fixed for keeping the ministry in the dark,” Mr Kamal said. “I will not tolerate any attempt to defame me.”
What pilgrims should do now
With the BHS system dismantled, the ministry has directed pilgrims to arrange their mandatory vaccinations directly through their travel agents until the ministry’s central procurement committee floats a replacement tender.
The allegations remain under investigation and have not been established by a final court decision.
Read more of our Politics coverage, including Hajj Vaccine Probe: FIA Arrests Three BHS Officials as Panel Recommends Cancelling Procurement.
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