A measles-rubella combined vaccine manufactured by the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC) has been licensed for widespread use by the Ministry of Health.

Work on the vaccine began in 2013 when the number of rubella cases was on the rise in Viet Nam, which could cause congenital disorders in new-born babies when contracted by pregnant women.

The product is the result of the Japanese rubella vaccine production technology acquired by POLYVAC and its existing measles vaccine production technology.

In March 2016, the vaccine was tested and demonstrated to be highly safe and able to protect against measles and rubella.

POLYVAC is mass-producing the vaccine to provide for the Expanded Programme Immunisation in June this year, replacing the product imported from India currently in use.

The price of this Vietnamese-made vaccine is also much cheaper than the imported substance.

POLYVAC Director Nguyen Dang Hien said Viet Nam is the 4^th country in Asia to produce this type of vaccine and the success helps Viet Nam secure a stable supply of vaccines, immune to shortage due to import procedures and foreign supply scarcity.

He added that mastering the production technology for this vaccine will help the centre to research on other types of combined vaccines in the future.

(Source: Nhân Dân Online)