Itahari, December 5:

An NGO has been inoculating 50,000 students of Sunsari and Morang districts against hepatitis B. Locals claimed that the method of vaccination was flawed and against the rule of the Health Department.

According to a circular issued by the Health Ministry on November 30 last year, there should be a gap of one month between first and second phases of hepatitis B vaccination. The vaccine is administered for the third time, keeping a gap of three months with the second phase.

But parents said the Nepal Parasite Control and Blood Division Research Centre (NPCBDRC) has vaccinated their children every month. According to a source, the NPCBDRC has vaccinated school children of Itahari, Jhumka, Inaruwa and Tarahara, northeast Sunsari, and of Indrapur, Dulari, Sundarpur and Mrigauliya of Morang.

The NPCBDRC has also been charged with taking Rs 75 from children aged below nine years and Rs 150 from children aged above nine years. According to rules of the Health Ministry, children below and above nine years of age should pay Rs 61 and Rs 85 for vaccination.

However, citing a “new health directive”, Chandani Shrestha of the NPCBDRC said hepatitis B vaccines should be administered every month. The villagers have blamed the local administration and the Health Department for not keeping an eye on the entire episode.

Founder of the Tenderfit School in Dulari-1 Morang, LB Rai, said they allowed vaccination among school children after they got a letter to this effect.