Indonesia to produce A/H1N1 flu vaccine

JAKARTA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) --

Indonesia is to produce vaccine to stop the further spread of the A/H1N1 viruses that have killed 10 people and infected more than 1,000 others in the country, a senior official of the Health Ministry said here on Monday.

The plan comes after the United Nations recently asked major vaccine producer firms in the world, including Indonesia's drug maker Biofarma, to produce the vaccine, Director General of Disease Control and Environmental Health of the ministry Tjandra Yoga Aditama said.

"As the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the world could only produce 3 billion doses of the flu vaccine out of 5 billion doses expectation. So, we will produce the vaccine," Yoga told Xinhua at his office when asked whether Indonesia will produce the A/H1N1 flu vaccine.

But, it had not been determined yet the amount of the vaccines to be produced by Biofarma and whether Indonesia would join other countries move to donate the vaccine to under developed countries, he said, adding "Let's wait until two months after the preparation process is completed, then all will be clear, such as the amount of the vaccine to be produced, whether they are only for us or to be given to other countries."

The director said that the development of the A/H1N1 influenza virus has often unpredictable, but his ministry would keep closely to watch it.

Sumber : http://news.xinhuanet.com