VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Health is working on a plan to produce 5-in-1 and 6-in-1 vaccines as hospitals and healthcare centers nationwide are running short of those vaccines for children, heard a web conference held by the Government’s portal chinhphu.vn last week.

Expert Kohei Toda of the World Health Organization (WHO) said producing vaccines domestically would be crucial for the country and would help increase global health security. In 1990, there were 66 nations manufacturing vaccines in the world but the number has fallen to 44 now.

Meanwhile, Do Tuan Dat, director of Vaccine and Bio-technological Products Company No.1 (Vabiotech), also highlighted the importance of producing vaccines in the country, saying the firm has been manufacturing Japanese Encephalitis vaccine for domestic consumption and export. Vabiotech plans to coordinate with other producers to turn out vaccines against several diseases in the coming time.

Tran Dac Phu, head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, said if Vietnam produced vaccines domestically, it could actively store, transport and use them to cope with an epidemic.

SGT