Vietnam successfully produces measles-rubella vaccine

                                                                  Photo: JICA

Clinical trials of MR vaccine approved by health ministry.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has approved the clinical trial results of the combined measles and rubella (MR) vaccine produced by the ministry’s Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC).

POLYVAC will soon complete all necessary procedures to apply for a marketing license so the vaccine can be provided within the Expanded Program on Immunization, which gives free vaccinations to Vietnamese children, tentatively beginning next year.

This is the first MR vaccine to be successfully produced in Vietnam. The country is proud to be one of 25 countries around the world that can produce vaccines and is the fourth in Asia to manufacture the MR vaccine, following Japan, India, and China.

The MR vaccine was transferred through technology under a project on “Strengthening Capacity for Measles-Rubella Combined Vaccine Production” funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project has been implemented by POLYVAC since May 2013, with a budget of approximately 700 million Japanese Yen ($6.6 million).

In March, with technical support from Japanese experts and ceaseless efforts by POLYVAC staff, the first clinical trials were conducted and the vaccine has been assessed as being safe and effective.

Since the project began, Japan’s Kitasato Daiichi Sankyo Vaccine Company Limited has dispatched 197 experts to Vietnam to assist POLYVAC with technology transfer and trained 36 POLYVAC staff at its facility in Japan.

2015 was a memorable year for Vietnam’s vaccine industry, with the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for vaccines being officially certified by the World Health Organization (WHO). Vietnam has now established itself on the global vaccine map with its manufacture of the high quality MR vaccine using Japanese technology.

The MR vaccine currently used in the Expanded Program on Immunization is produced in India. In Vietnam, about 1.5 million children are given the vaccine, accounting for 90 per cent of all children. Only a measles vaccine has been provided for free, while the rubella vaccine required payment.

To support healthcare in Vietnam, in August The Record of Discussion for a Technical Cooperation Project on “Improvement of Hospital Management Competency” was signed by Dr. Nguyen Truong Son, Director of Cho Ray Hospital, and Mr. Yasuo Fujita, Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam.

The project is expected to bring maximum effect to the provision of healthcare services at Cho Ray Hospital and the Cho Ray Vietnam-Japan Friendship Hospital in collaboration with a Japanese Yen Loan Project entitled the “Cho Ray Vietnam-Japan Friendship Hospital Development Project”.

The Improvement of Hospital Management Competency Project will be one of the most important technical cooperation projects in the healthcare sector and will contribute to creating favorable conditions for the improvement of medical services provision and the enhancement of the capability of the medical sector’s human resources.

by Minh Tuyet / VET