KARACHI: Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal has announced that the government plans to achieve complete self-sufficiency in all vaccines, including polio, before 2030, with the additional goal of exporting vaccines to neighboring countries.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) Regional Office at Dow University’s Ojha Campus, Kamal said that Pakistan needs to produce 140 to 180 million doses of essential vaccines annually and must first meet World Health Organization (WHO) standards to achieve this target.
He praised Dow University’s vaccine production capacity, calling it exemplary, and inspected anti-venom sera production during his visit to the Dow Institute for Advanced Biological and Animal Research.
The minister emphasized that WHO prequalification is critical to ensure a sustainable vaccine supply and reduce Pakistan’s heavy economic burden from imports. Dow University officials shared that with government support for technology transfer and bulk imports, the university can meet national needs and even export vaccines once WHO approval is secured.
