Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) held a professorial promotion ceremony for Professor Jarir At Thobari of the UGM Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing at the UGM Senate Hall on Tuesday, November 28.
In his inaugural lecture as a professor of pharmacology and therapy, he delivered “Vaccine Development: A Review of Epidemiological, Clinical Trial, and Economic Aspects.”
Professor Thobari stated that vaccination is currently one of the best methods for preventing infectious diseases, representing one of the most cost-effective public health programs after clean water.
“The impact of vaccines on reducing morbidity, disability, and death from vaccine-preventable diseases has been measured in many countries,” the professor explained.
Over 100 million children are vaccinated annually to combat diseases such as diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, tuberculosis, polio, measles, and hepatitis B. Immunization programs save two to three million children’s lives annually.
“Vaccination also contributes to the global reduction in under-5 mortality from 93 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 39 per 1000 live births in 2018,” Professor Thobari explained.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2021 noted that in countries with high vaccination program coverage, many diseases that were previously significant causes of child mortality have been eradicated and eliminated, such as smallpox eradication, near-eradication of polio, and over 74% reduction in measles deaths over the last decade.
Unfortunately, the opportunity for all children to receive protection from vaccine-preventable diseases has not been fully realized.
Although global coverage of the 3-dose diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine has increased to over 85%, it is estimated that in 2020, 23 million children worldwide did not receive routine recommended vaccinations.
“This has occurred due to disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing economic crises and conflicts, and a decline in vaccine confidence,” he stated.
The professor mentioned that a greater coverage gap occurs for new vaccines that protect against infections by Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcus, rotavirus, and human papillomavirus (HPV).
Although introduced into the national immunization programs in 45 countries, the coverage of these vaccines varies widely and is still relatively low.
Indonesia has been trying to catch up on these programs by implementing immunization programs for the pneumococcal vaccine (PCV), rotavirus vaccine (RVV), and HPV vaccine in the last two years nationwide.
One of the comprehensive and integrated surveillances conducted in Indonesia was the rotavirus surveillance in toddlers with acute diarrhea.
The surveillance results showed that the burden of acute diarrhea caused by rotavirus in toddlers was high, including identifying strains and genotypes of rotavirus in Indonesia. This underpinned the development of the rotavirus vaccine in Indonesia.
Researchers from the UGM Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, in collaboration with Murdoch Children Research Institute (MCRI) Australia and PT BioFarma Indonesia, have successfully developed the RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine, which can protect infants from severe acute gastroenteritis since birth.
This rotavirus vaccine has proven safe and effective in clinical trials involving thousands of infants in Indonesia as participants.
“PT BioFarma Indonesia will soon produce this vaccine, and it will be one of the successfully produced vaccines domestically and used in the national immunization program,” he explained.
Furthermore, Professor Thobari emphasized that the clinical trial phase is a complex, lengthy, and costly process in vaccine development. Although there are general vaccine development guidelines, the process’s uniqueness and complexity depend on the vaccine’s characteristics, the target population, and existing vaccines.
He added that vaccine development must continue. The safety, cellular immunogenicity, humoral immunogenicity, and efficacy of the vaccine must be assessed during vaccine development.
The benefits of vaccines in preventing illness and death can only be measured when the vaccine is used in a public health program that reaches a broad population. It’s not the vaccine that saves human lives, but the vaccination.
Author: Ika
Photographer: Firsto