Children to receive free measles-rubella vaccination in 2017

The measles-rubella vaccine (MR) produced by Vietnam, which was clinically tested and found to be both safe and effective, will be used in the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation free of charge in 2017.

Measles-rubella vaccine produced by Vietnam will be used in the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation free of charge in 2017.
Measles-rubella vaccine produced by Vietnam will be used in the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation free of charge in 2017.

This is the first vaccine that has been produced in Vietnam by the Ministry of Health’s Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biology (POLYVAC) under a technology-transfer project funded by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).

According to POLYVAC Director Nguyen Dang Hien, the project started in May 2013 with a total cost of JPY700 million (US$6.7 million). It aims to produce combined MR vaccines meeting the Good Manufacturing Practices standard of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In March 2016, with the assistance of Japanese experts and efforts of the centre’s staff, the measles-rubella vaccine was clinically tested and proven to be safe and effective, Hien said.

Specifically, the vaccine has been tested on 756 healthy people aged between 1-45 in the northern provinces of Ha Nam and Hoa Binh.

The Science Technology and Training Administration (STTA) verified that the measles-rubella vaccine produced by the centre has met the requirements in terms of safety and immunity.

Since the project began, the Japanese technology transfer unit – Kitasato Daiichi Sankyo Vaccine (KDSV) has sent 197 experts to Vietnam to support POLYVAC in producing the vaccine and received 36 staff from the centre for training at its plant in Japan.

Hien said the project’s success helps Vietnam to proactively prevent diseases and protect the people’s health.

With its current capacity of 7.5 million doses per year, the centre is equipped to fully meet the domestic vaccine demand and will even be capable of producing exports in the future.

In 2015, the WHO certified that Vietnam has a fully-equipped national regulatory authority (NRA) system that ensures the safety and efficacy of vaccines produced and used in Vietnam.

Currently, Vietnam is among 25 nations that are certified to produce vaccines throughout the world, including four in Asia that can produce the measles-rubella vaccine, following Japan, India, and China.