(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Iran's Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mohammad Mehdinejad Nouri announced the news, saying that 95 percent of the country's vaccine needs are met domestically.
Addressing a group of Iranian officials, Mehdinejad Nouri said on Wednesday that the vaccines produced domestically are used for cattle, poultry, sea creatures and human beings.
He said 16 other vaccines are to be produced domestically soon.
Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology, particularly in medical and medicinal fields, in recent years.
Head of Iran's Pasteur Institute Mostafa Qaneyee had announced in 2011 that the institute plans to produce human vaccines for rabies and hemophilia diseases.
"The center (Pasteur Institute), in cooperation with its affiliated knowledge-based companies, has started a project to produce rabies and hemophilia human vaccines," Qaneyee told FNA at the time.
He expressed the hope that his institute would start mass-production of the vaccines within the next 2-3 years, adding that the products will be sold not only in domestic, but also in foreign markets.
Also, Iranian Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi had boasted the country's astonishing progress in producing medical tools, equipment and drugs, saying that Iran ranks first in synthesizing different drugs and medications in the region.
"Iran certainly ranks first in the region in producing medical equipment and medicine and those who stand behind us cannot be compared with Iran at all," Vahid Dastjerdi said addressing the inaugural ceremony of an international exhibition on medical, dentistry and laboratory equipments in Tehran in 2011.
The minister further mentioned that Iran exports medical tools and equipment worth $12bln each year and produces 96% of its medical needs, adding that the country also produces 70% of its needed pharmaceutical raw materials domestically.
End item/ 149