Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - May 11, 2001
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi
Dr Somsong Rakphao, the department's director-general, said the MoU was signed in preparation for the October transformation of the department into the Department for Disease Control and Prevention, which will focus on research and development.
Though details of the agreement on the development of vaccines have not been set, he said it is certain that Thailand would be able to purchase the vaccines at affordable prices.
He said: "A team of researchers have been assigned to work out details of the co-operation. There should be no problems with this."The vaccines to be developed include a single vaccine for children, for the prevention of seven diseases: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, mumps, rubella and measles.
The development of other vaccines include HIV vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine, Streptococcus pneumonia vaccine, malaria vaccine and human papilloma vaccine. Dr Somsong said the joint development of new vaccines should enable Thailand to get easy access to products at affordable prices, adding that despite their availability, vaccines for preventing diseases such as cholera are still unaffordable for the majority of the population.
Glaxo Smith Kline Biologicals' president Jean Stephenne said if the research and development turns out to be successful, Thailand will benefit more than other countries in purchasing vaccines at reasonable prices.
- The Communicable Diseases Control Department has reported that the five major communicable diseases in the country are HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, malaria, leptospirosis and dengue fever.
The department said, that as of this year, there are about a million HIV positive persons in the country, out of which 5,787 people have died and 17,549 are ill with Aids.
Tuberculosis has killed 3,598 persons out of 48,331 people suffering from the disease, while malaria has caused 740 deaths among 91,703 reported cases.
Leptospirosis has killed 348 persons, out of 14,020 reported cases. In addition, 33 deaths have been reported due to dengue fever, which has infected 14,458 patients.
Dr Somsong said it is important to improve scientific knowledge as well as social controls, which include educating the public about disease prevention.
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