Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has announced that the Prime Minister is making the report of the vaccine procurement inquiry committee public. Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said the findings would be published on the Ministry of National Health Services’ official website.
Kamal said the government had not spent a single rupee during the entire process. He said Rs183.055 million had been charged for the vaccines and the full amount had been deposited into NADRA’s account.
Minister says loss fell on vaccine supplier
According to the minister, the financial loss was suffered by the vaccine supplier rather than the government. He categorically denied reports of a Rs10 billion vaccine purchase, saying the inquiry committee’s report made no mention of such an amount.
Kamal explained that Border Health Services (BHS) set up its procurement committee on June 10. He described the process BHS adopted as a complete violation of procurement rules, stressing that standard procedures must be followed in government procurement.
Committee holds BHS responsible for irregularities
The minister said BHS had also incorrectly applied the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework alongside procurement rules. He added that a company had approached the court in connection with the matter.
Following media reports on the vaccine procurement process, the Prime Minister formed a high-powered inquiry committee. According to Kamal, the committee held BHS responsible for the irregularities and found that it had kept the Ministry of Health uninformed.
