Various state agencies are mulling the idea of building a factory to produce rabies jabs given the scandal over corruption in vaccine procurement from abroad.
The idea was discussed Monday in a meeting at the Department of Livestock Development (DLD).
The meeting was chaired by DLD director-general Sorawit Thaneto. Joining also were representatives from the Bureau of Veterinary Biologics, National Vaccine Institute, Kasetsart University, Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, the Department of Medical Sciences (DMSC), Food and Drug Administration and the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation.
“The objective is to let the country be able to produce rabies vaccines for humans and animals using its own qualified plant,” said the same official source.
The meeting Monday only concluded that authorities would work together on a feasibility study first.
Other proposals from the meeting are the formation of a central vaccine procurement and distribution body, which would also be responsible for distributing it to the target areas.
According to the source, the meeting participants agreed that all the provinces must regularly report their rabies situations with the heads of animals suspected to be infected sent in for laboratory checks.
The decision would represent a policy U-turn. Thailand has always imported rabies vaccines. Each year, the country imports 15 million doses for animals and 2.5 million for humans, but the procurements have come under a cloud of suspicion.
Former DLD director Apai Suttisunk had been transferred to an inactive post pending an investigation into alleged malfeasance in procurement.
Many local authorities needed to stop vaccine procurement pending the findings of the probe, leading to shortages.
As a result, the number of fatalities among humans has increased over the past few years.
Between 2004 and 2014, the death toll in humans was less than 10 a year.
The number has exceeded 10 a year for the past two years. So far, 11 people have died of rabies during the first half of this year.
