Jakarta, Indonesia – As part of Indonesia’s commitment to improve the global health system in preparation for future pandemics, state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma has opened the door for vaccine technology transfer with the Republic of Ghana, West Africa.
Ghana intends to adopt Bio Farma as a model for vaccine storage, production, and distribution, according to Iwan Setiawan, head of Bio Farma’s corporate relations department, here on Friday.
On Thursday, seven health sector delegates from Ghana arrived in Bandung, West Java, to examine and learn about Bio Farma’s work mechanism.
Bio Farma has the potential to manufacture up to 3.2 billion vaccine doses per year. At least 70% of them are destined for export to 135 other nations.
“Bio Farma also has products that have been used in Ghana by UNICEF, such as oral type 1 and 3 polio vaccines (bOPV).” Vaccines are also delivered to other countries via the bilateral process, UNICEF, and private companies,” he noted.
Bio Farma also managed to produce more than 5 million doses of the IndoVac COVID-19 vaccine in 2022 to meet the Health Ministry’s demand and take advantage of export potential.
“Moreover, Bio Farma is also conducting technology transfer for the development of the first mRNA-based vaccine in Indonesia,” Setiawan explained.
He also stated that Ghana is interested in collaborating with Bio Farma on technology transfer.
“We are open to everyone. We are ready to partner if there are those who match us and have the facility,” he stated.
“The pharmaceutical sector has strict standards. There are numerous prepared in Ghana. “If their facilities are ready, we are ready to conduct technology transfer,” he stated.
The Republic of Ghana passed the National Vaccine Institute Bill in 2023 and established the National Vaccine Institution on May 10, 2023, to make policy and produce vaccines autonomously.
One of the Ghanaian delegates, William Opare, stated that his party is having difficulty vaccination roughly 33 million Ghanaians.
There are also a number of parents who are hesitant to bring their children for immunization. He emphasized that there is a negative rumor spreading about immunization.
He also praised Indonesia’s immunization program mechanism, which is aimed at a population of roughly 234 million spread across several huge islands.