Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad presents a national development strategy and institute aimed at making the country a vaccination centre

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob unveiled a national development strategy and institute on Monday (November 1) as part of attempts to make the country into a vaccine production hub and increase vaccination confidence.

According to him, three initiatives, including two COVID-19 vaccines, are ready to be implemented under the National Vaccine Development Roadmap (PPVN).

 

Mr Ismail Sabri, who spoke at the launch ceremony of the Malaysian Genome and Vaccine Institute, said that while research and development and vaccine production require a lot of money, they can also bring long-term benefits in the form of cost savings in treating diseases and investments by multinational companies in Malaysia (MGVI).

He stated that the plan and institute will assist Malaysia in developing its own high-quality, effective, and safe vaccinations.

 

"Highly skilled human capital in different sectors of research, particularly those connected to healthcare and vaccines, can be developed through the implementation of PPVN and the construction of MGVI."

He claims that this will expand job opportunities, help raise the number of competent workers, and improve the people's standard of living and health.

 

THREE PROJECTS READY FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The Institute for Medical Research has created two types of COVID-19 vaccines employing inactivated virus and mRNA, as well as a therapeutic cancer vaccine for the treatment of head and neck cancer, according to the national vaccine development plan.

 

It will also investigate the development of a cholera vaccine.

Mr Ismail Sabri, speaking about the therapeutic cancer vaccine for head and neck cancer treatment, said that because there is currently no facility in Malaysia to conduct the first human clinical trials, Cancer Research Malaysia will conduct the clinical trial in the United Kingdom from February 2022 to March 2023.

 

"I am certain that the establishment of MGVI will have a beneficial economic, social, and technological impact on the country, contributing to economic stability by removing reliance on external sources of supplies," Mr Ismail Sabri stated.

He stated that the government was dedicated to accelerating R&D to produce innovative technology by allocating 50% of government research expenditures to experimental development, particularly for ideas with significant commercial potential.

 

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