The government will facilitate the commercial production and distribution of two vaccines developed by the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) to help control avian influenza and goatpox among poultry and livestock.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said the vaccines would be commercially produced and made available to farmers through the Department of Livestock Services (DLS).
He made the announcement at a ceremony held at the Secretariat on Tuesday to mark the handover of the vaccines developed by BLRI to the DLS for commercial production and wider use at the farm level.
The minister said controlling diseases was crucial to protecting farmers from financial losses, as the livestock and poultry sectors are important components of the country's agricultural economy.
"Today's event is not merely a formal handover of vaccines; rather, it is an important step towards taking knowledge and innovations achieved in laboratories to farmers at the field level," he said.
He said the domestic development and production of effective vaccines would help control diseases, reduce production costs and lessen the country's dependence on imported vaccines.
The minister said BLRI scientists and researchers had developed the vaccines using domestic technology and materials after years of research, testing and overcoming various challenges.
He stressed the need to take research outcomes beyond laboratories and into commercial production.
"If an innovation is completed in a laboratory but does not benefit ordinary people, the full benefits of that research cannot be realised," he said, adding that ensuring the commercial production and farm-level use of research-based innovations is now a priority.
Fisheries and Livestock State Minister Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said domestic vaccine production would reduce import dependence and help the country move towards self-sufficiency.
"The more self-reliant we become in producing medicines and vaccines, the lower production costs will be," he said, adding that lower costs would eventually have an impact on the prices of food and livestock products.
He said the government was working to strengthen the country's economy and called for collective efforts to advance Bangladesh under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's "Bangladesh First" policy.
The state minister also pledged government initiatives to increase hilsa production and preserve its taste, including river dredging, improving water flow, preventing jatka fishing and eliminating the use of illegal current nets.
He said the government was also working to provide alternative employment opportunities for fishermen rather than limiting support to food assistance.
