M

embers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have decided to form a special working group to create halal vaccines and medicines.

Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) head Penny Lukito highlighted the importance of the working group as Muslim-majority countries shared the same understanding on halal standards.

“We have to establish [the working group] now, because researching halal vaccines will require six years or more. The process will include clinical trials and other phases,” Penny told the media after the National Medicines Regulatory Authorities (NMRA) meeting in Jakarta on Thursday.

Penny said that, during the two-day meeting, several countries mentioned that they required food and beverage companies to put halal or haram labels on their products, but that the requirement was optional for pharmaceutical products.

“There are risks that when children are not vaccinated it may cause an outbreak. Community immunity is a factor we must address when discussing halal labeling on medicine and vaccines, and how it differs from [such labels on] food and beverages,” she said.Member countries such as the United Arab Emirates supported the notion.

“If patients need drugs and there are still no substitutes for drugs produced with animal fat or pig fat, for example, you still need to save the patient’s life. I don’t think there is a problem with this issue. A patients’s safety is the top priority,” Amin Hussain Alameeri, a UAE Health and Prevention Ministry official said.

Penny said she was optimistic about the commitment of Muslim-majority countries to pursue the development of halal vaccines. “Several countries have done it [developing halal vaccines], including Indonesia. So, I don’t think it’s impossible for us to find new halal vaccines.”

State-owned vaccine producer Bio Farma has begun research to develop a halal measles and rubella (MR) vaccine, following parents’ refusals to vaccinate their children because of concerns the vaccine’s production involves haram substances. Rahman said, however, that it might take years for the endeavour to reach a tangible outcome.

“We have set a target to find a new halal medium by 2024. But even after we find the new medium, we need to conduct tests and so on. Overall, it will take at least 15 years to produce a vaccine,” Bio Farma president director Rahman Roestan said.

The assistant secretary-general of the OIC, Muhammad Naeem Khan, made an assurance that the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC) would give its full support to the project.

On the closing day of the NMRAs meeting, 32 of 57 OIC state members present agreed on a draft “Jakarta Declaration” and a draft plan of action, which includes commitments to strengthen collaboration to achieve self-reliance in the provision of medicine and vaccines among member states.