THE Department of Medical Research under the Ministry of Health is planning to begin production of hepatitis B vaccine by the end of the year, a senior official said last week.

A factory at Hlegu, about 26 miles north of Yangon, will make about seven million doses of hepatitis B vaccine a year, said the head of the production facility, Dr Khin Pyone Kyi.

The factory, which is operated by the ministry, was built in 2002 with a US$12.6 million loan provided by South Korea’s Economic Development Cooperative Fund, she said.

The ministry signed the loan contract in October 2000, she said.

Dr Khin Pyone Kyi said training for personnel who will work at the factory was provided by South Korea’s Cheil Je Dung Corporation, which supplies hepatitis B vaccines to the World Health Organisation.

“The factory is the first vaccine production plant in Myanmar to follow the good manufacturing practice guidelines of the WHO,” she said.

Dr Khin Pyone Kyi said most of the factory’s output would be used to vaccinate children.

She said one million children were born in Myanmar each year and they needed a course of three vaccinations to protect them from hepatitis B, for which there was no treatment.

Dr Khin Pyone Kyi said two million vaccinations a year were needed for adults at risk of contracting hepatitis B.

Dr Khin Pyone Kyi said the Department of Medical Research began producing hepatitis B vaccine at its facility in Dagon township in 1989 with the assistance of the WHO.

The facility produced 150,000 doses a year, which was not enough for the country’s needs, she said.

Dr Khin Pyone Kyi said nearly 150 people visit the department’s clinic in Dagon township each day to be vaccinated against hepatitis B.