11 November 2005 – Hungary has expressed keen interest in producing with the Philippines a bird flu vaccine developed by the Hungarian Health Department, a possible partnership that is seen to bolster the Philippines’ campaign against a probable flu pandemic.

In his report, Philippine Ambassador to Budapest Alejandro del Rosario said that during his recent meeting with the Ministry of Health, Hungarian officials suggested the possibility of building a plant in the Philippines for the production of the bird flu vaccine

Ambassador del Rosario arranged a meeting with Hungarian Health Ministry’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lazlo Bujdoso and Virologist Dr. Istvan Jankovics in line with the Department of Foreign Affairs’ objective of strengthening Philippine preparedness against pandemics through bilateral cooperation.

In the meeting with del Rosario, Hungarian health authorities revealed that the Eastern European country was exploring cooperation in vaccine production with the Philippines since Hungary could only produce enough vaccine for domestic consumption.

Hungarian health authorities also expressed willingness to travel to the Philippines to share their expertise in bird flu vaccine development and production, as well as to oversee the construction of a production facility, del Rosario said.

Hungarian health authorities also welcomed Filipino scientists to visit Hungary to observe current Hungarian efforts in producing and developing the bird flu vaccine.

Last October, Hungary’s government announced that initial human tests proved promising on the vaccine, which is applicable for the deadly H5N1 form of the virus.

In a statement to Reuters, Hungarian Health Minister Jeno Racz said  “…It’s definitely proved that the vaccine is effective (on humans)... based on our data, the vaccine is 100 percent effective.”

Hungarian health authorities, however, cautioned that the vaccine they developed would be effective only for the present strain of the bird flu virus and emphasized that it may not be advisable to stockpile more than a year’s supply of the vaccine.

According to the Hungarian Health Ministry, the bird flu vaccine was tested on 100 volunteers, including Minister Racz.

Hungary has been producing various flu vaccines for several decades.

The country currently produces Amantadint which is reportedly as effective as Roche’s anti-flu drug Tamiflu.  In a report, both drugs are not classified as vaccines but are used as treatment of patients afflicted with the bird flu virus.  END