Health ministry scraps vaccine tender for pilgrims and overseas workers

The Ministry of National Health Services has scrapped the procurement of meningococcal meningitis and influenza vaccines for pilgrims and overseas job seekers, abolished the Border Health Services (BHS) vaccination arrangement that ran it, and said a fresh tender will be advertised within a month.

Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal confirmed that the existing vaccination arrangement had been suspended and that officials who launched the unauthorised tender had been arrested for bypassing the ministry's oversight. He said he would not tolerate actions that undermined the ministry's authority or damaged his reputation, according to Minute Mirror.

The decision follows an inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The five-member committee, headed by the Cabinet Division secretary, examined the legal framework, approvals and justification for awarding the contract. Its members included representatives of the Intelligence Bureau, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority and the Attorney General's Office.

Documents examined by the committee indicated that BHS officials set up their own procurement and grievance committees outside the ministry's approved arrangements. The ministry had constituted a six-member procurement committee on May 9 chaired by BHS Director Dr Mir Muhammad Hassan Builo, with a separate grievance committee under the federal director general of health. On June 10, BHS reportedly formed another procurement committee under Dr Pardeep Kumar and a redressal committee led by Dr Shahbaz Ahmed Hashmi, and went ahead with the tender independently.

The contract also drew scrutiny over cost. Under the disputed award, vaccination was to cost about Rs4,500 per pilgrim, against roughly Rs1,250 per dose under the earlier arrangement, Minute Mirror reported. Seven companies have approached the Islamabad High Court challenging alleged irregularities in the bidding.

Under the previous agreement, the private company bought the vaccines and payments were deposited into an account managed by the National Database and Registration Authority, which after deducting its service charges split the balance between BHS and the company. The arrangement involved no direct spending from the national treasury.

Officials said the Rs1,250 figure recorded in 2026 came from a company securing vaccines at a cheaper rate. Historical figures showed meningococcal charges of Rs2,555 per dose in 2025, Rs2,244 in 2024, Rs2,476 in 2023 and Rs2,550 in 2022, while influenza charges were Rs1,426 in 2025 and Rs1,670 in 2024.

Until the new system is in place, pilgrims have been advised to obtain their mandatory vaccinations through their travel agents. The ministry's central procurement committee is expected to oversee the replacement tender. A senior official said the new tender would be advertised again, but that the companies challenging the process should demonstrate their ability to supply vaccines at the Rs1,250 per dose they cite. The vaccine's maximum retail price is about Rs1,300, although charges in previous years frequently exceeded Rs2,000.

Officials also linked inconsistencies in earlier procurement arrangements to cases involving fake vaccination certificates, which created difficulties for pilgrims and raised questions about the credibility of the system.