Healthcare official who explained Eupenta vaccine usage detained for bribe

The Ministry of Health official who explained the supplies of the South Korean vaccine Eupenta to Belarus has been detained. Lyudmila Ravutskaya, head of the pharmacological inspectorate of the Ministry of Health, has been arrested on suspicion of bribe-taking, tut.by reports. A criminal case for bribery (7 incidents are known) has bene started against her Ravutskaya’s arrest by the anti-corruption department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not connected with this summer’s mass arrest of doctors.

The Internet edition Yezhednevnik published an article about Eupenta in summer. The edition announced that Belarusian children were being used to test a vaccine that was not registered in Belarus. The article ‘could harm the national security of the Republic of Belarus in the sphere of healthcare’, the Ministry of Health claimed and lodged a complaint to the General Prosecutor’s Office. The Investigation Committee started a check-up in connection with the death of a 2-month-old child after vaccination in Hantsavichy District.  Specialists started checking the quality and origin of the vaccine.