Seminar on Fast Track Licensing for WHO Pre- qualified Vaccines held

Bangladesh is progressing through a set of required steps of a pre-qualification process to produce high quality vaccines. The Bangladesh Health Minister, Prof. A F M Ruhal Haque has assured all concerned of his firm commitment to get it done as early as possible. He was speaking as Chief Guest at a “Dissemination Seminar on Fast Track Licensing for WHO Pre-qualified Vaccines Used in EPI” held on October 11 2009. It was also addressed by the Joint Secretary (PH& WHO) of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and the WHO Representative in Bangladesh, Dr Duangvadee Sungkhobol.

While taking note of the tremendous success and growth of the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in Bangladesh, the Minister asked the sector to come forward to produce good quality vaccines in Bangladesh.

Underscoring the need to make the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) fully functional, the WHO Representative to Bangladesh, Dr Duangvadee Sungkhobol, praised the Bangladesh effort to become the first country to take this bold initiative to implement the fast track licensing procedure. She added “I am sure the example of Bangladesh in implementation will encourage other countries to go ahead with the introduction of this procedure to comply with WHO recommendations”.  

Emphasizing on the need to ensure high  quality and efficacy of the vaccines, the WHO Representative mentioned that six critical functions are required before Bangladesh can  go into vaccine production; quite soon,  a WHO team would visit Bangladesh to asses the manufacturing sector’s technical strengths and capacity in this regard.

 The strategic agenda will be implemented through three consecutive biennial, results-based work-plans and with strong emphasis on research and knowledge management. In order to ensure its effective and timely implementation, WHO will seek to further enhance its cooperation with government and strengthen cooperation with key stakeholders. WHO will be proactive in identifying new opportunities for synergy and harmonisation of our work with that of other UN agencies and development partners. Above all, WHO commits to providing high-quality technical support to the government to attain the goal of ‘Health for All’ in Bangladesh.