Malaysia plans to begin manufacturing "halal" vaccines for the Muslim world in the next two to three years to help bridge a serious supply deficit and mitigate possible effects of bioterrorism, ministers said today.

Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said a National Institute for Natural Products, Vaccines and Biologicals had been established to ensure adequate supply of basic childhood vaccines, and conduct research and development on vaccines for diseases prevalent in Southeast Asia such as dengue and Japanese encephalitis.

He said the institute would also play a key role to "mitigate effects of bioterrorism by having capability to scale up any seed vaccine from other sources in terms of emergencies such as smallpox or anthrax vaccines."

"It is our aspiration that Malaysia will be self reliant in vaccine production in the near future and in doing so, also be the halal hub for vaccine production for the Muslim world," he said in a statement at a conference here on vaccine production in the Islamic world.

There are no vaccines currently forbidden for Muslims on religious grounds but officials say there are concerns that some vaccines could be made from parts of the pig, which is considered unclean in Islam.

Chua said Malaysia previously produced its own vaccines but halted it in 1990 after 24 years. He said the government hoped to revive manufacturing within "two to three years" after conducting a feasibility study.

Serious deficiency

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told the conference that there was a serious deficiency of basic childhood vaccines in the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) nations due to a funding gap for immunisation and weak access to global supply.

He said according to the United Nations, seven of the top 10 nations in the world with the highest infant mortality rates were OIC members, with some African and central Asian nations recording more than 100 deaths for every 1,000 births.

He said the pharmaceutical industry's focus on profits had also led to a global major shortage of vaccines for ailments prevalent in Islamic nations such as measles, malaria and respiratory infections.

Abdullah, who is currently OIC chairman, called for deeper collaboration among OIC countries to work towards self-reliance in vaccine production.

"Given the decline of vaccine production in the Western countries, it is vital that we in the developing world build our self sufficiency in this area. In this way, we can ensure not only adequate supply but also better development of halal vaccines," he added.