The Feasibility Study of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Thailand for Vaccine Development and Production

Abstract

Vaccination is a public health tool that promotes disease control and prevention, and ultimately safeguards national security. The National Vaccine Committee has created policies in order to ensure that Thailand is compliant with international vaccine production standards, with the goal of enabling Thailand to successfully and independently produce vaccines. This study was aimed at exploring the feasibility of Thailand’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) to develop and produce vaccines, by gaining an understanding of the main factors that facilitated its initiation, had promoted the successful collaboration, as well as identified any shortcomings of the partnership. From November to December of 2011, an in-depth interview was conducted with the 20 main stakeholders who were involved in domestic vaccine development, the directors of all organizations that participated in policy decision making, academic stakeholders, and other stakeholders in both the government and private sector.

The results of this study indicated that the private sector deemed Thailand as unprepared for independently producing vaccines, due to the high production costs. However, the private sector viewed PPP as a catalyst for transitioning Thailand into a country with a systematic and independent vaccine production infrastructure.

The private sector appropriately facilitated the vaccine production process due to its specialization on the subject and its effective administration practices. In contrast, the government sector was the appropriate leader in the immunization program to indicate which vaccine is needed; to select alternative vaccines, and to ensure that the entire population has access to vaccination. However, to be sustainable, the immunization program must incorporate the intentions and high visions of all chief executives. Additionally, acceptance, benefits and risks that might affect all stakeholders, effective coordination, technology transfer and expert advice must also be accounted for in the immunization program.

This study revealed that concerns of PPP include obstruction of laws and regulations, the current framework of cooperation, partnership reliability and transparency, and corruption-including uncertainty surrounding the continuation of current essential policies.