Five billion THB for vaccine and vaccine factory development

BANGKOK, 19 January 2011 (NNT) – The Ministry of Public Health has arranged a budget of five billion THB for vaccine and vaccine factory development in order to produce more types of vaccine domestically and reduce imports.

According to Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, the cabinet has approved the construction of a vaccine factory to reduce vaccine imports. The ministry will then establish a National Vaccine Development Institute, as well as other infrastructure including more personnel, while providing support to vaccine research.

Thailand thus far has been able to produce only two kinds of vaccine for domestic uses, including encephalitis vaccine by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) and tuberculosis vaccine by the Thai Red Cross Society.

The approved five billion THB budget will be used to develop vaccine and manufacturing factory with an aim to produce seven types of vaccine in Thailand within ten years, namely vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis, Japanese encephalitis, tuberculosis and dengue fever.

The ministry has also targeted to build the first model vaccine storage in ASEAN in order to store prototype vaccines for quality examination prior to ordering further purchases in the country and the region in the future.