The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) held a ceremony yesterday at the IVI Headquarters welcoming Bangladesh's accession to the IVI.

IVI hosted a ceremony at the headquarters honouring Bangladesh's ratification of the IVI Establishment Agreement.

Over 20 years of vaccine research and capacity-building initiatives with partners in Bangladesh have led to significant achievements in global public health, including the domestic development and delivery of IVI's oral cholera vaccine, and IVI officially welcomed Bangladesh as its 19th state party.

The International Vaccine Institute is a nonprofit inter-governmental organisation established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). IVI has 36 countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) on its treaty, including Korea, Sweden, India, and Finland as state funders.

Bangladesh is a founding signatory to IVI's Establishment Agreement, the 1996 UN treaty and ratified the Agreement on 21 March 2021 and the United Nations issued notification of the depository on 05 April 2021. The Agreement entered into force for Bangladesh on 1 May 2021.

The event was participated by the representatives from the Government of Bangladesh, members of the Diplomatic community in Seoul, and representatives of the IVI member states online and offline. 

Ambassador of Bangladesh to South Korea  Abida Islam attended the ceremony in person and raised Bangladesh's Flag at the IVI Headquarters with the national anthem of Bangladesh to signify Bangladesh's state membership, which was followed by the national anthem of the Republic of Korea.

In a video message, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Zahid Maleque put forward the collaborative efforts between Bangladesh and the IVI in Bangladesh in improving the disease surveillance of Bangladesh from diseases such as cholera, shigella, antimicrobial resistance etc.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, expressed thanks and gratitude to the IVI for supporting and facilitating the accession process of Bangladesh to the IVI.

Chairperson of IVI's Board of Trustees George Bickerstaff, in his introductory remarks, welcomed Bangladesh's ratification of the IVI Establishment Agreement becoming one of the state parties of the IVI.

He expressed hope that with Bangladesh's membership in the IVI, there will be continued collaborations across clinical development, epidemiology, and technology transfer to advance vaccine solutions for urgent global public health challenges. 

Director-General of the IVI Dr Jerome Kim made a detailed and impressive presentation highlighting IVI's relationship with Bangladesh during the ceremony.

"It is my privilege to be able to review the work we have done together and to think about our opportunities in the future. This could involve new vaccines for global health, new projects, special partnerships with icddr,b and other institutions in Bangladesh to advance sustainable global health and reduce the burden of infectious diseases through vaccination," he said.

Ambassador Abida Islam in her remark said,  that the accession of Bangladesh to the IVI is indeed a remarkable event that envisions a future free of vaccine-preventable death and illness.

She also expressed hope that this membership will pave the way for enhanced research, clinical development, and manufacturing of affordable vaccines in Bangladesh and will assist Bangladesh to contribute to the greater good of humankind, globally.

Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, Executive Director of the icddr,b highlighted the collaborative efforts among the IVI, icddr,b, and the pharmaceutical industries of Bangladesh in developing different kinds of vaccines including the oral cholera vaccine.

He expressed hope that this collaboration can bring wonders in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Chairman and Managing Director of Incepta Vaccine Ltd. Abdul Muktadir expressed thanks to the IVI management for providing all the support for developing the Incepta vaccine, launching cholera vaccine in Bangladesh and for the development of the organizational capacity and the capacity building of the health professionals of the Incepta Vaccine Ltd.

He said that invaluable support from IVI and the icddr,b has helped the Incepta Vaccine Ltd. substantially manufacture and develop different kinds of vaccines in Bangladesh.

Chang Wook-jin, Director General of International Organizations Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea in his remark cordially welcomed Bangladesh for joining IVI and conveyed the Korean government's unwavering support and tremendous efforts for the development and visibility of the IVI in the various bilateral and multilateral occasions.

Dr Jerome Kim, Director General of the IVI in his remark congratulated and welcomed Bangladesh, one of the oldest signatories of the IVI, as the state party of the IVI through ratification of the IVI Establishment Agreement.

Gabriella Auhustsson, Charge d'affaires of the Embassy of Sweden in Seoul and. Mika Ruotsalainenm, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Finland in Seoul highlighted their respective countries' collaborative efforts with IVI in the advancement of developing vaccines for infectious diseases and for developing public health management.

Congratulating Bangladesh on its formal accession to the IVI, they expressed their respective governments' commitment to work closely with Bangladesh in expanding collaborative efforts for global health management.