First India-designed vaccine passes WHO test 

First India-designed vaccine passes WHO test 

Context:

• For the first time, a vaccine conceived and developed from scratch in India has been “pre-qualified” by the World Health Organisation.
• While several vaccines from India have been pre-qualified, this is the first that was entirely developed locally and, according to experts, is a sign that there is a credible industrial, scientific and regulatory process in place to develop vaccines in India.

About Rotavac vaccine:

• The Rotavac vaccine, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited last year, was included in India’s national immunisation programme.
• To be “pre-qualified” means that the vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in Africa and South America.
• The Rotavac vaccine protects against childhood diarrhoea caused by the rotavirus.
• Some medics have raised concerns that the rotavirus vaccine carried a small chance of causing infants to develop a bowel disorder; but the Rotavac vaccine, having been tested in the field for over a year, have not shown any negative effect.
• The Pune-based Serum International also has developed a rotavirus vaccine called Rabishield that has also been included in India’s immunisation programme.
• Rotavirus is responsible for an estimated 36% of hospitalisations for childhood diarrhoea around the world and for an estimated 200,000 deaths in low- and middle-income countries.