Belgrade (dpa) - Serbian authorities late Monday arrested a former
high-ranking health official on suspicion of corruption in the
procurement of swine flu vaccines in 2009, the B92 news portal said.
Svetlana Vukajlovic, the former head of the state health insurance
institute, allegedly harmed the state by 1.6 million euros (2.1
million dollars) in the purchase of 857,000 vaccine units, the
reports said quoting the state prosecution.
Two executives from pharmaceutical companies were also arrested,
preosecutors were quoted as saying.
Serbia's former health minister Tomica Milosavljevic and chief
epidemiologist Predrag Kon were questioned within the same police
operation, but were not arrested.
Milosavljevic told B92 that his ministry was not "in any way"
involved in the tender for the procurement of the vaccines.
Amid the swine flu scare in 2009, Serbia initially ordered 3
million vaccines from the Swiss company Novartis, with the mediation
of the local firm Jugoremedija.
The order was scaled down as it became apparent that the interest
for inocculation was far lower than the authorities expected. In the
end, only 154,000 vaccines were used and more than 700,000 went to
waste.
According to official figures, amid the swine flu pandemic in
Serbia there were 695 cases and a total of 83 fatalities.
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