KUALA
LUMPUR, April 15, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said Friday, April 15, that
his country is planning to supply the Muslim world with “halal”
vaccines.
“We
can also ensure that vaccine development for diseases prevalent in our
respective regions, such as malaria, will receive the attention that
it deserves,” he told the opening session of a four-day
international convention on self-reliance on vaccine production in the
Islamic world, reported the Malaysian news agency, Bernama.
He
said the Malaysian government has been undertaking a project for
national self-sufficiency in vaccine production to ensure adequate
vaccine supplies for Islamic countries.
“In
this way, we can ensure not only adequate supplies but also better
development of halal vaccines,” Abdullah said.
The
international convention on self-reliance on vaccine production in the
Islamic world was jointly organized by the Malaysian Health Ministry
and Islamic Development Bank.
Tragedy
Badawi
said risks of catching epidemics and endemic infectious diseases were
high among infants and children in the 57-member Organization of
Islamic Conference (OIC).
Citing
UN estimates, he stressed that seven of the top 10 countries in the
world with the highest infant mortality rates were OIC members.
“It
is a tragedy to allow millions of our member nations' infants and
children to die of such preventable causes,” said the Malaysian
premier.
“There
are many reasons that contribute to this state of affairs, but perhaps
the most important is the deprivation of childhood vaccination,” he
stressed.
Practical
Steps
Elaborating
on practical steps taken, Malaysian Health Minister Chua Soi Lek cited
the setting up of the National Institute for Natural Products Vaccines
and Biologicals to produce adequate supply of basic childhood
vaccines.
He
said the institute will play a leading role in conducting vaccine
researches for diseases prevalent in Southeast Asian countries such as
dengue and Japanese encephalitis, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).
“It
is our aspiration that Malaysia will be self reliant in vaccine
production in the near future and in doing so, also be the halal hub
for vaccine production for the Muslim world,” added the minister.
The
institute will also be charged with “mitigating effects of
bio-terrorism by having capabilities to scale up any seed vaccine from
other sources in terms of emergencies such as smallpox or anthrax
vaccines”, he stressed.
