Vietnam produces measles-rubella combination vaccine

That was the information given at a working session between the Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (Polyvac) - Ministry of Health and JICA experts held on the afternoon of November 8.

Polyvac has successfully produced a combined measles-rubella (MR) vaccine. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has also just approved the results of clinical trials for the MR vaccine with an assessment of its safety and effectiveness for users. This is the first MR vaccine to have been successfully transferred to Vietnam, within the framework of the project "Strengthening the production capacity of the combined measles-rubella vaccine" supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project was implemented by Polyvac in May 2013 with a total budget of about 700 million Japanese yen.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Hien, Director of Polyvac, said that from the time of starting the operation until October 2016, the Japanese technology transfer unit, Kitasato Daiichi Sankyo Vaccine Co., Ltd. (KDSV), sent 197 Japanese experts to transfer technology to Polyvac and received 36 Polyvac staff to study technology at the Company's factory in Japan.

In the coming time, Polyvac will complete the procedures related to product circulation licensing, to be able to provide MR vaccine for the Expanded Immunization Program, serving free vaccination for Vietnamese children expected from 2017.

According to medical experts, measles and rubella are acute infectious diseases caused by viruses. Rubella in children is usually mild, with few complications.

However, the consequences for pregnant women are extremely serious. If the mother is infected with rubella in the first 3 months of pregnancy, it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, congenital rubella syndrome and rubella infection in the newborn. Congenital rubella syndrome includes heart defects, cataracts, congenital deafness, developmental delay, diabetes in newborns, jaundice, hemorrhage, brittle bones..., many children have multiple malformations.

In 2016, Vietnam marked an important milestone on the map of vaccine-producing countries when it produced high-quality MR vaccines using Japanese technology. Vietnam can be proud to be one of the 25 vaccine-producing countries in the world and the 4th country in Asia to produce MR vaccines after Japan, India and China.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Hien said that Vietnam's production of MR vaccine has great community significance. Thanks to that, Vietnam will proactively source vaccines to prevent epidemics.

Accordingly, children will be vaccinated with a single measles shot at 9 months. At 18 months, children will be vaccinated with a measles-rubella shot. The introduction of the measles-rubella vaccine for free for children aims to reduce the number of cases and eliminate measles by 2017, followed by rubella. Previously, only measles vaccine was vaccinated for free in the program, rubella was vaccinated as a service.

According to Hanoimoi