Vietnam among seven nations selected to research M72 vaccine against TB
VOV.VN - The country is one of the seven countries selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to conduct research on the M72 tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, given the fact that they have a high tuberculosis rate, according to Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Binh Hoa, deputy director of the Central Lung Hospital and deputy head of the Executive Board of the National TB.Programme.
This comes following the WHO giving recommendations to promote vaccination against this disease. There have so far been 16 types of TB vaccines that have been studied in clinical trials, of which the research result of the M72 vaccine shows that with at least one injection this type of vaccine has passed the WHO recommendation level with about 50% protection.
According to details in the WHO's 2023 report, TB remains the second leading cause of death in the world among infectious diseases, only behind the COVID-19. It is therefore worth mentioning that current global goals in TB control are behind schedule.
Vietnam is currently ranked 11th among 30 countries worldwide with the highest rate of TB and multidrug-resistant TB.
The country detected a total of 106,086 TB patients and recorded around 13,000 TB-related deaths in 2023. In addition, the successful treatment rate is maintained at a high level of more than 90%.
However, Prof. Hoa noted that more than 40% of TB patients in the community remain either undetected or untreated.
