tate-owned vaccine manufacturer Bio Farma has temporarily stopped its diphtheria vaccine exports to focus on vaccine distribution to fulfill domestic demand as Indonesia strives to contain an outbreak of the infectious disease.
Bio Farma corporate communication spokesperson Bambang Heriyanto said in a statement on Tuesday that the company’s decision to suspend the exportation of diphtheria vaccines was taken to ensure the availability of supply of the vaccine at home.
Bambang said Bio Farma guaranteed the availability of diphtheria vaccines needed to prevent people from contracting the bacterial infection as well as diphtheria serum for patients already infected with the disease.
“Our product has passed tight quality control measures,” Bambang said.
The Health Ministry and local health agencies have planned to expand diphtheria vaccination campaigns through Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI) after it was revealed that 20 of the country's 34 provinces had faced diphtheria outbreaks this year.
From January to November alone, 591 people were infected with diphtheria, 30 of whom died, according to the ministry. (ebf)
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