"Bio Farma, as a vaccine producer, has exported its products to more than 150 countries and fulfilled 70 percent of the world's polio vaccine needs," Herdian noted in a written statement, Tuesday.
In November 2022, another polio outbreak occurred in Pidie, Aceh, caused by the dangerous combination of low immunization coverage and unsanitary environmental conditions.
This is the first incident since Indonesia was declared polio-free in 2014 for which the country had received Polio-free certification from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The government has set the status of an extraordinary polio event after a type 2 polio case was found in Pidie, Aceh. Currently, Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Java are three provinces where the extraordinary polio event has been declared.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has provided some 10 million doses of the Novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) produced by Bio Farma for the implementation of the Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI) to prevent additional polio cases in Indonesia.
Bio Farma has a nOPV2 vaccine production capacity of over 500 million doses per year, and currently, the installation of Filling line 2 is underway to increase the nOPV2 capacity.
"We export 300 to 400 million doses of nOPV2 per year," Herdian stated.
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However, as a state-owned pharmaceutical company, Bio Farma is committed to supporting government programs.
"We will prioritize meeting the needs of the nOPV2 vaccine for Indonesian people, especially those affected by the outbreak," he stated.
The government, through the Ministry of Health, requires an allocation of 15 million doses of the nOPV2 vaccine to handle the outbreaks in Indonesia for the regions of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Java.
Bio Farma is gradually distributing the nOPV2 vaccine based on coordination with the Ministry of Health.
Bio Farma plays an active role in accelerating the development and production of nOPV2 vaccine as an end-game strategy for tackling polio in the world.
The nOPV2 is the world's first new-generation polio vaccine developed as a result of research from the holding company of the state-owned pharmaceutical company, Bio Farma.
In clinical trials, this nOPV2 provides the same protection against type 2 polio virus, with the advantage of being more genetically stable and having a small possibility of recurrence of Circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus (cVDPV), which is the reappearance of polio cases from viral mutations in vaccines.
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Translator: Ajat Sudrajat, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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