Philippines wants to buy 500,000 more doses of African swine fever vaccine from Vietnam

That is the information Mr. Constante De Jesus Palabrica - representative of the Philippine Ministry of Agriculture discussed with Mr. Phung Duc Tien - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development - in a recent meeting.

Recently, a delegation of international experts including representatives of FAO, The Philippine Department of Agriculture , Philippine farm owners, and some Vietnamese experts conducted a survey at some pig farms in Hung Yen, Lang Son, Me Linh district and My Duc district, Hanoi on the vaccination status. African swine fever. After completing the survey, the international expert team had a meeting and discussion with the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Mr. Constante (left) talks with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien.

At the meeting, Mr. Constante said that before the African swine fever outbreak in the early third quarter, the total pig herd in the Philippines was about 1 million sows and 5 million pigs. However, the disease has caused a sharp decline in the number of pigs, with 40-50% of the pigs being destroyed. This has caused huge damage to the country's economy, especially to small-scale farmers.

After a period of research and testing, the Philippines licensed the circulation of the AVAC ASF Live African swine fever vaccine from Vietnam in July and ordered 600,000 doses, received in several batches. These imported vaccines were injected into pigs at many farms across the Philippines.

Mr. Constante said : “ In addition to being an officer in charge of pigs and poultry for the Ministry of Agriculture, I am also the chairman of a pig farming enterprise with 250,000 pigs. I have conducted a trial injection of 10,000 doses of AVAC ASF Live vaccine on pigs at my farm, showing very good results.

This vaccine has now been used in several other farms with similar results. Therefore, I have traveled to all provinces in the Philippines to provide detailed information about the vaccine to farmers. Many farms have expressed their desire to use the vaccine to prevent disease in their pigs."

Upon receiving information from Vietnam that this vaccine is effective on both sows and boars, while the Philippines is also conducting vaccination trials on sows, the working group went to Vietnam to conduct a survey.

A team of international and Vietnamese experts conducted a survey at a number of pig farms.

Mr. Constante stated that, based on the survey, the entire delegation agreed that this vaccine is effective on sows, boars and piglets. Therefore, it is expected that in 2025, the Ministry will propose to the Philippine Government to purchase an additional 500,000 doses of vaccine for widespread vaccination of the pig herd; hoping that Vietnam will also soon complete licensing for the AVAC ASF Live vaccine for injection on sows and boars so that the Philippine Department of Agriculture can serve as a basis for proposing to the Government. Mr. Constante hopes that the Philippine Food Safety Administration will soon approve mass vaccination.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien shared that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also submitted a document to the Government proposing to purchase more vaccines for widespread vaccination for livestock farmers in Vietnam and is waiting for the opinion of the Ministry of Finance.

Mr. Tien recommended that the Philippine Government should quickly complete procedures to conduct widespread vaccination to ensure livelihoods for livestock farmers, ensure safe food sources, and contribute to national development. Mr. Tien affirmed that this is an important milestone in strengthening the friendly relationship between Vietnam and the Philippines. At the same time, the Deputy Minister expressed his willingness to send experts to the Philippines for training and support.

Source