Govt decides to promote local manufacturing of veterinary vaccines

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to promote local manufacturing of veterinary vaccines, citing sources ARY News reported on Saturday.

The sources said that the government sector will be first priority for veterinary vaccine production, and the private sector will be the second priority.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) after consultation with provincial reseach institutes and the Ministry of Food Security, has established a task force to promote local manufacturing of veterinary vaccines, according to sources.

The task force comprises of the experts of DRAP and the National Veterinary Laboratory, and it has been asked to submit its recommendations within one month.

The country required a large quantity of veterinary vaccines and most of them being imported from abroad.

“Pakistan spends billions in import of veterinary vaccines each year and local vaccine production will save precious foreign exchange,” sources said.

“Recently the country faced the issue of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), and it imported a large quantity of the vaccine,” according to sources.

“The country could save large amount of foreign exchange with manufacturing of all vaccines within the country,” he said.

Veterinary vaccines have immense importance in protecting animal health. Furthermore, veterinary vaccines also contribute to less or no use of antibiotics.