Vaccines being produced at the state-owned Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No 1 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA)
– Vietnam must be able to produce large amounts of multivalent vaccines in the
coming years, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said.
He made the statement
due to the fact that by 2019, the country will no longer receive aid from the
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) for 5-in-1 combination
vaccines as part of the national Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
Vietnam is one of few
countries in the region able to produce vaccines for humans, the Ministry of
Health said, with 11 out of 12 vaccines for the EPI produced in the country.
However, the vaccines
were all monovalent.
This calls for
autonomous mass production of multivalent vaccines in the country, especially
the acellular 5-in-1 combination vaccines, which will replace the 5-in-1
Quinvaxem vaccines that have been provided by GAVI.
To produce large amounts
of multivalent , industrial factories for large-scale vaccine
production are needed, according to representatives from the health, finance
and science and technology ministries.
These facilities should
be managed by a government agency, PM Phuc said during a meeting with other
leaders last week. The agency should consist of experienced officials familiar
with vaccine research and technologies, he said.
He said the Government
would invest in developing core technology to produce multivalent vaccines.
An import-export policy
consistent with international standards and Vietnam’s conditions should be
developed alongside the research, he said.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
