Health Ministry Scraps Flawed Vaccine Tender for Overseas Travellers
The Ministry of National Health Services has cancelled a controversial procurement tender for mandatory travel vaccines, following an inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The government has also abolished the existing vaccination setup previously managed through Border Health Services (BHS) after severe financial irregularities and administrative flaws were exposed.
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal confirmed the halt of the current vaccination process, which primarily affects religious pilgrims and overseas job seekers requiring meningococcal meningitis and influenza vaccines.
Pilgrims Directed to Use Travel Agents
With the BHS vaccination system now dismantled, the health ministry has issued interim directives for all affected travellers. Pilgrims and overseas workers must now arrange their mandatory vaccinations directly through their respective travel agents.
This temporary measure will remain in effect until the ministry’s central procurement committee issues a replacement tender, which is expected within a month.
Inquiry Exposes Parallel Procurement Committees
The controversy centres on a public-private partnership contract that was awarded under questionable circumstances. Official documents reviewed during the prime minister’s inquiry revealed that BHS officials deliberately bypassed federal oversight by creating parallel administrative bodies.
On May 9, the health ministry had established an official six-member procurement committee led by BHS Director Dr Mir Muhammad Hassan Builo. However, on June 10, BHS unilaterally formed its own unauthorised procurement committee and a separate grievance redressal committee, proceeding to float the tender independently.
Following these revelations, all BHS officials involved in the unauthorised tender process have been arrested. “I can assure that they will be fixed for keeping the ministry in the dark,” Minister Kamal stated, emphasising his commitment to transparency and a zero-tolerance policy towards administrative corruption.
Inflated Costs and Financial Irregularities
The high-level inquiry—which included representatives from the Intelligence Bureau, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA)—found significant discrepancies in the vaccine pricing structure.
The suspended contract had inflated vaccination costs to approximately Rs4,500 per pilgrim. This represents a drastic increase compared to the Rs1,250 per dose secured earlier in 2026 under a different arrangement. Historically, per-dose charges for meningitis vaccines hovered between Rs2,244 and Rs2,555 over the past few years, while influenza vaccines cost up to Rs1,670.
A senior ministry official noted that the procurement also violated regulatory protocols by applying PPRA rules to what should have been governed by Public Private Partnership Authority guidelines.
What Happens Next?
The health ministry is currently preparing to re-advertise the tender through official channels. Meanwhile, seven pharmaceutical companies have petitioned the Islamabad High Court to challenge the alleged irregularities in the original bidding process.
Ministry officials are urging the petitioning companies to honour the lower Rs1,250 rate they previously cited, noting that the maximum retail price of the vaccine is around Rs1,300, despite it historically being sold to pilgrims for over Rs2,000.