Comstech, Indonesia launch fellowship in virology and vaccine technologies

Islamabad:Ten fellowships have been awarded to scholars from eight OIC member states: Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uganda, Iran, Jordan and Kazakhstan in the field of virology and vaccine technology.

The fellowships award ceremony was held on Thursday, at Ministry of Health, in Jakarta, Indonesia. These fellowships have been awarded under the Comstech Fellowships Program for Research and Advanced Training in Virology and Vaccine Technologies.

The programme is a collaborative effort of Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia, Bio-Farma, Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) and Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), and the Embassy of Indonesia in Pakistan.

The award ceremony was addressed by H. E. Ambassador, Askar Mussinov, Assistant Secretary General (S&T) OIC, Coordinator General Comstech, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Director General for Multilateral Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia, Director General for Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices, Ministry of Health, Republic of Indonesia. The Assistant Secretary General OIC for science and technology Ambassador Askar Mussinov appreciated the initiative. He appreciated the leadership of COMSTECH for coining such programs of fellowships for the S&T capacity building of OIC member states. He assured support to Comstech programs.

The Coordinator General Comstech, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary welcomed the participants of the ceremony and said that he was happy to see this programme up and running for two consecutive years. He informed that this year, they had participants from eight OIC member states, who will benefit from the excellence of Republic of Indonesia in the fields of virology and vaccine technology. He said that these participants are early career scientists, virologists and public health researchers.

Prof. Choudhary said that this programme is a collaborative effort of Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of Indonesia, Bio-Farma, UNPAD and UNAIR, and the Embassy of Indonesia in Pakistan. Prof. Choudhary extended profound gratitude to MoH, Indonesia, for organizing this major initiative in key areas of viral disease surveillance and epidemic/ pandemic preparedness, and to H.E. Adam Tugio, the Ambassador of Indonesia in Pakistan for his tireless efforts to make this program possible.

Prof. Choudhary said that the purpose of these fellowships is to enhance the research and development capacity of promising scientists, especially those at the beginning of their research career, helping them to foster linkages for further collaboration in the field of virology and vaccine technology. He said that this program provides OIC Members states an opportunity to work collaboratively in the field of virology and vaccine technologies to reach their national health related SDGs goals collectively and individually.

The ceremony was attended by Ambassador Adam Tugio, the ambassadors of OIC member states and the representatives of UNPAD, UNAIR and BioFarma.