I

ndonesia aims to use the upcoming meeting of the heads of National Medicines Regulatory Authorities (NMRAs) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to invite OIC researchers to develop halal vaccines in the country.

The government is set to host the NMRAs meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday and Thursday, the first such meeting where heads of NMRAs from about 32 OIC member states will sit together to strengthen cooperation to achieve self-reliance in medicine and vaccines.

State-owned vaccine manufacturer Bio Farma said it would be a perfect time to start a collaborative research in Indonesia after the OIC named the country “the center of excellence” in vaccine supply and production last
December.

“With [the title], the country can gather potential researchers from OIC member states to study ingredients for halal vaccines,” Bio Farma president director Rahman Roestan told a press conference on Monday.

The government is currently setting up an OIC vaccine research center at the Center for Science and Technology Research (Puspiptek) in South Tangerang, Banten, to kick of the endeavor.

Halal vaccine development is considered crucial in increasing vaccine coverage in Muslim countries, particularly where rejection to vaccines persists.

Some religious communities are against vaccination because of concern that vaccines contain pork gelatin, which is considered haram in Islam, while others believe that a natural immunity is better for their children than the immunity acquired through vaccinations.

Indonesia has twice extended its measles and rubella (MR) vaccination campaign in 28 provinces after failing to reach its target due to public opposition.

The average national coverage moved at a snail’s pace from 66.29 percent at the end of the first extension period on Oct. 31 to 69.81 percent as of Tuesday, far short of the 95 percent targeted by Dec. 31 during the second extension period.

Aceh, West Sumatra and Riau — provinces known to be conservative regions upholding traditional religious values — ranked the lowest with 10.3 percent, 39.9 percent and 41.7 percent, respectively.

Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) head Penny K. Lukito said she had received approval from OIC secretary-general Yousef Al-Othaimeen to raise the issue of halal vaccine production in the upcoming NMRAs meeting.

“We will use this very forum to discuss what we can do to invent halal vaccines,” Penny said.

Penny added that the forum was expected to produce a framework for stronger collaboration among the NMRAs of OIC member countries in the form of a Jakarta Declaration and a Plan of Action.

Indonesia and Senegal are the only two countries of 57 OIC member states that have secured the World Health Organization’s (WHO) prequalification certification for production quality, safety and efficacy standards of certain vaccines.

The WHO granted the certificate to more than 12 vaccines from Indonesia, including for diphtheria, hepatitis B, polio, measles and tetanus, all of which are produced by Bio Farma.

The company, which produces around 3.1 billion doses of vaccines each year, is one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world, exporting to 142 countries, 49 of which are OIC members.

Rahman said Bio Farma was currently developing vaccines from ingredients that were not derived from animals to anticipate vaccine rejection. The company is already working to develop a halal MR vaccine.