J

AKARTA: The Jakarta administration says it will join Bali and the West Java capital of Bandung to test a new dengue fever vaccine.

Jakarta has approved a proposal by the University of Indonesia’s (UI) medical school and Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital to test the vaccine on 800 children across the city, City Health Agency chief Dien Emmawati said on Wednesday.

“The vaccine is safe. It only need a final clinical test,” Dien told reporters at City Hall. Dien said that a third of Indonesia’s dengue fever cases occurred in Jakarta. “We hope to decrease the number of cases if the vaccine works.”

UI health sciences professor Sri Rezeki Hadinegoro said that the vaccine had been in development for 25 years and would also be tested in Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

The test will last for five years. — JP