India among six WHO developing nations to receive grant for influenza vaccine technology

Malaysia Sun (ANI) Wednesday 25th April, 2007

Geneva,Apr.25 : India is among six developing countries selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that will receive grants for establishing in-country manufacturing capacity for influenza vaccine.

The other five countries are Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam.

Up to 2.5 million dollars from the Governments of Japan and the United States will go towards each of the six countries as immediate funding to begin the process of acquiring the needed technology.

Japan has agreed to provide eight million dollars, while the United States will provide 10 million dollars for technology transfer.

"It is imperative that the global community works collectively to ensure more equitable access to a vaccine and other health measures in the event of an influenza pandemic. We all have a responsibility to protect global public health security," said Dr David L. Heymann, World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases.

"Global public health security can only be realized if developing countries are assisted in developing the capabilities to access pandemic vaccines and protect their populations," he added.

The grants are part of the implementation of the Global Pandemic Influenza Action Plan which aims to close the influenza vaccine production gap of several billion doses.

It will take a minimum of three to five years for the grant recipient countries to begin producing the vaccine locally. Until then, these countries will require support in the shorter term to ensure they can access vaccine to protect their populations.