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VIET NAM TO PRODUCE HEPATITIS A VACCINE
 

  
   Ha Noi, July 30 (VNA) -- Viet Nam will start producing a vaccine for Hepatitis A in 2003, said Ms. Thu Van, Director of the Viet Nam Institute of Vaccines and Bio-products.
   The Institute, the producer of the vaccine, will initially turn out 100,000 doses of the vaccine per year by using locally-available materials.
   In Viet Nam, 30 percent of hospitalised chronical Hepatitis patients are affected by Hepatitis A.
   The Institute annually produces around 1 million doses of the vaccine for Hepatitis B. This vaccine, known as a first generation vaccine, is made by using blood plasma from infected people.
   This year, the Institute will produce 100,000 doses of the new vaccine for Hepatitis B, the recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine, to replace the first-generation Hepatitis B vaccine. Yeast and animal cells available in the country will be used for production of the vaccine.
   In coming years, the Institute will cooperate with foreign partners to produce Hib vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type B. Epidemiological investigations have been ongoing for the production of Hib vaccine.
   The Institute of Vaccines and Bio-products currently produces vaccines to prevent hepatitis, encephalitis, and cholera, as well as numerous other bio-products.--Enditem