Vietnam among seven countries selected to research M72 vaccine against TB

Central Lung Hospital doctor provides consultancy for TB patient (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – is one of seven countries selected by the World
Health Organisation (WHO) to conduct research on the M72 tuberculosis (TB)
vaccine, given the fact that they have a high tuberculosis burden, according to
Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Binh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Central Lung Hospital and deputy head of the Executive Board of the National TB Programme.

The WHO has issued recommendations to
promote vaccination against this disease. To date, there are 16 types of TB
vaccines that have been studied in clinical trials, of which the research
result of the shows that with at least one injection, this type of
vaccine has passed the WHO recommendation level with about 50% protection.

According to the ‘s 2023 report, TB is
still the second leading cause of death in the world among infectious diseases,
only behind the COVID-19. It is worth mentioning that current global goals in TB
control are behind schedule.

Vietnam is currently ranked 11th among 30
countries worldwide with the highest burden of TB and multidrug-resistant TB.

The country detected 106,086 TB patients and
recorded around 13,000 related deaths in 2023.

The successful treatment rate is maintained
at a high level of over 90%.

However, Binh noted that there are still
more than 40% of TB patients in the community who have not been detected and
treated./.