The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $336.5 million loan financing under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) to establish vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic (VTD) manufacturing capacity and strengthen VTD regulatory capacity in Bangladesh. This will help boost the country’s resilience against future pandemics, improve vaccine supply security, and reduce the incidence and severity of vaccine-preventable diseases. Furthermore, it will contribute to regional health security and provide jobs and employment. 

Availability of domestically manufactured safe and efficacious VTD will help reduce premature deaths and the disease burden of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in Bangladesh. Mr. Dinesh Arora, ADB Principal Health Specialist, remarked that Bangladesh’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the country’s challenges in accessing diagnostic testing kits, availability of vaccines, and pandemic preparedness. It highlighted the need to develop self-sufficiency and establish the country’s capacity to manufacture vaccines.  

Expected outputs of the Bangladesh: Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics Manufacturing and Regulatory Strengthening Project are as follows:  

• Established manufacturing facility for vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics 
• Established capacity for vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics manufacturing 
• Strengthened capacity of the Directorate General of Drug Administration to regulate vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics 

The agreement for the loan package was signed on 28 November 2023 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Mr. Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division of the Government of Bangladesh, and Mr. Edimon Ginting, ADB Country Director for Bangladesh, signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively.  Four other agreements were signed on the occasion, including the (i)  Second South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Dhaka-Northwest Corridor Road Project, Phase 2,Tranche 3; (ii) Smart Metering Energy Efficiency Improvement Project; (iii) Chattogram Hill Tracts Inclusive and Resilient Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project, and (iv) Improving Computer and Software Engineering Tertiary Education Project.  

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