VN produce 12 vaccines for humans

IIlustration photo

​The program aims to produce vaccinations on an industrial scale to serve the expanded immunisation programme as well as outbreaks of such diseases as diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, polio, meningococcal infections, diarrhoea caused by rotavirus, Japanese encephalitis, seasonal influenza, typhoid, rabies, and hepatitis A, among others.

Speaking at the ceremony, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the programme would mark a new milestone in the country's vaccine production industry, in which vaccines will be produced locally instead of imported – making them national products, as opposed to foreign ones.

Important vaccines for humans such as the Rota virus, Japanese encephalitis B, seasonal flu, rabies, typhoid and hepatitis would be produced and sold locally in order to meet the country's demand and replace many imported vaccines one-by-one by 2020, Tien added.

The programme is being implemented according to the Prime Minister’s Decision 2441/QĐ-TTg on developing national vaccination products by 2020.

Now, Viet Nam has produced 10 of the 11 vaccines used in the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation, which provides free vaccinations to all children under 5.

Polio was eradicated in 2000 and tetanus was eliminated in 2005 thanks to this programme, making it one of the most successful health ventures in Viet Nam so far.

 By Vien Nhu