IVI Director-General Dr. John Clemens (seated, right), and Dr. Ko Gwang jin,
Vice President of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Democratic People´s
Republic of Korea (DPRK), sign an agreement to introduce vaccines against
Japanese encephalitis and bacterial meningitis (Hib) for DPRK children
in Pyongyang on October 6, 2006.

The IVI and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have joined forces to prevent bacterial meningitis and Japanese encephalitis (JE) in DPRK children by improving the country’s diagnostic capabilities and introducing new vaccines.

The IVI is working with DPRK authorities to introduce on a pilot scale vaccines against JE and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which causes bacterial meningitis and pneumonia. This involves a pilot Hib and JE vaccination campaign for 3,000 children in two cities, scheduled for early next year. The campaign will help DPRK public health authorities assess the feasibility of introducing these vaccines into their routine vaccination programs for children.

Over the past few years, the DPRK government has considerably improved its national routine immunization program with support from the GAVI Alliance, the World Health Organization and UNICEF. However, it has not yet introduced vaccines against Hib and JE, which are major causes of death and disability in many developing countries.

The IVI has already begun joint efforts with the DRPK by sponsoring and organizing study tours for DPRK vaccine professionals. The tour took more than a dozen scientists from the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) to leading public health and vaccine institutions in China and Vietnam in May and August, and focused on the prevention and diagnosis of Hib and JE.

The participants visited the National Institute for Control of Drugs and Biological Products (NICDBP) in Beijing, as well as two major vaccine manufacturers in China ㅡ the Beijing and Lanzhou Institutes of Biological Products. They also visited the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi, where they toured the diagnostic laboratories and vaccine production facilities.

The IVI-DPRK program involves a package of several activities aimed at strengthening laboratory diagnosis of Hib and JE in the DPRK, enhancing the capabilities of health workers in the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, and speeding up the introduction of Hib and JE vaccines to DPRK children through the pilot vaccination campaign. 

“We are pleased to be able assist the DPRK in their efforts to prevent central nervous system infections due to JE and Hib in children. These are devastating infections, with high mortality rates and high rates of permanent neurological disability among patients who survive,” said Dr. John Clemens, Director-General of the IVI. “Creation of a reference laboratory for diagnosis of Hib and JE should not only help improve clinical management of children with these infections, but should also assist DPRK health authorities to better estimate the burden of these diseases in the DPRK.”

“In the coming years, the collaboration will aim to expand the use of these vaccines to wider groups of children, and to provide training to DPRK scientists on the production of these vaccines,” Dr. Clemens said. “In the long-term, it is hoped that the collaboration will expand even further to include development and deployment of other new-generation vaccines that can save DPRK children’s lives.”

Hib and JE
Bacterial and viral infections due to Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) kill an estimated 400,000 children globally each year. At present, the diseases caused by these pathogens are preventable with existing vaccines that are in use across the world, including in several developing countries.