Health

We all, as educated adults, know full well that halal vaccination is needed to save our children from polio and many other serious diseases.  There have been many incidents that parents in Pakistan and many other Muslim countries refused to take vaccination to their children because they thought that vaccination being provided to their children was not halal.

As pork is forbidden by Islam, the use of pork-based gelatin in many vaccines has resulted in considerable resistance to vaccination among the Islamic community. Data has demonstrated a decrease in immunization rates in majority Muslim countries such as Nigeria and Pakistan, where leaders and clerics have made complex claims against vaccines. A 2012 survey of parents in an Islamic primary school in Australia found that over 40% did not feel they knew enough about vaccines to make informed decisions, with over 70% expressing a desire for further information to reduce the uncertainty.

This confusion and uncertainty is ongoing in spite of leading Muslim scholars stating, in consultation with the World Health Organization, that the gelatin used in vaccines should be considered halal – and thus that there is no religious reason for Muslims to refuse vaccination. Refusal of vaccines, and the anti-vaccine movement in general, pose a major public health challenge resulting in the loss of protection from herd immunity. Consequences can be fatal.

In an attempt to ease doubts and encourage greater uptake of vaccines among the Muslim population, a number of halal-certified vaccines are currently in development. Vaccines may be acceptable to many Muslims in the current context, where there are no alternatives. However, if there is a choice between halal and non-halal products, Muslims must choose the halal option.

It goes without saying that the creation of halal vaccines potentially opens up a very lucrative market. The managing director of AJ Pharma Holding, a Saudi Arabian-owned and Malaysia-based pharmaceutical company developing a number of halal vaccines, believes the global halal vaccine market could be worth approximately $1.1 billion by 2030, given the growing affluence of the Muslim consumer base.

There are 1.8 billion Muslims around the world, constituting 25% of the global population; Muslims are the single largest religious group worldwide. Key markets include Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh – as well as the smaller but more affluent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Hajj also creates a large market, as Saudi Arabia requires a certificate of meningitis vaccination from each of the millions of pilgrims travelling to Mecca every year.

For today’s major vaccine players, halal poses some important business questions. How will halal vaccines impact their sales? What degree of threat do they pose to their business model? To what extent is it worth considering development of their own halal vaccines in order to gain a stronger foothold in the increasingly important and lucrative Muslim market?

There might also be opportunity for halal vaccines beyond the Muslim population, as is increasingly the case with halal foods. The halal food segment – already worth approximately $700 billion globally and one of the few food product categories experiencing fast growth – is surging rapidly among non-Muslims and in non-Muslim majority markets. For example, in Moscow, sales in halal stores grew by $25 million between 2004 and 2006.

The halal skincare and cosmetics market is experiencing similar growth, with the co-founder of Indian halal beauty brand Iba suggesting that 50% of its consumers are non-Muslims. Interest among this segment is continuing to increase at a fast rate due to overlap in values with the vegan and ethical beauty markets (in terms of their shared emphasis on cruelty-free manufacturing processes). Companies such as Al Islami foods, a Dubai-based halal food manufacturer, cite the marketing of halal foods to non-Muslims as one of its key growth strategies. As the halal concept emphasizes quality, safety and hygiene, these values might also have a broader appeal in the context of vaccines and in healthcare more broadly.

Interestingly, within healthcare the desire for halal products is not restricted to vaccines. There is also demand for halal surgical sutures and plasma-derived products, and even pharmaceutical products themselves.

Capturing this growing market is not without challenges. For example, there is not yet a universal standard to define good manufacturing practice for halal medical products. While the Halal Food Standard sets out clear parameters for food products, its guidelines are not sufficiently nuanced to be easily transferable or applicable to healthcare and the pharmaceutical sector.

Perhaps even more importantly, such products may be more expensive than their non-halal counterparts – which raises a number of ethical and access issues in cases where healthcare products are publicly funded. Awareness and demand for halal products is also not uniform across Muslim and Muslim-majority countries. For example, awareness and education are higher and regulatory guidelines are stricter in the ASEAN countries of Indonesia and Malaysia compared to Pakistan.

Halal in healthcare is undoubtedly in its infancy, and it remains to be seen how the market will evolve. There is an immediate need for greater education regarding halal and vaccines for Muslim consumers worldwide. Developing communication materials targeted specifically to Muslims may constitute an important first step in ensuring informed-decision making and a defense against rejection of currently available vaccines. Indeed, as Muslim markets become an increasingly important source of revenue for global pharmaceutical/vaccines companies and competitors race to develop “true” halal alternatives to established products, halal certification is an area that should be on everyone’s radar.

Originally published on www.mmm-online.com

KUALA LUMPUR 28th October 2015 (WAM) — Malaysia has called on global pharmaceutical producers to consider the country as the new regional hub to cater for the expanding global halal market.

In making the call Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said local industry players should also keep track of the latest know-how and technologies.

“Local industry players should double their efforts to position Malaysia at the forefront of the global healthcare and pharmaceutical industry” he said when opening the Halal Initiatives in Healthcare Industry Forum here Tuesday.

Also present were Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed and Halal Industry Development Corporation Chief Executive Officer Jamil Bidin state news agency Bernama said.

Ahmad Zahid said the global demand for halal pharmaceuticals is estimated to be worth a staggering RM349 billion (US82 billion) but the current supply is estimated at only RM8.5 million (US2 million) leaving a very big gap of RM340 million (US80 million) worth of business opportunities waiting to be explored.

“There is certainly a huge opportunity here with a very promising future and this is where Malaysia holds some of the keys. As at August this year there were already 110 Halal-certified pharmaceutical manufacturers in Malaysia including 24 export-ready manufacturers.

“Malaysia is also one of the few countries in the region that have been accepted into the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme.

“This indicates that the local industry has established high manufacturing standards” he said adding this would further open up Malaysia exports to member countries of the scheme including members of the European Union Australia and Canada.

“One potential area that is ripe for exploration is herbal-based food supplements and over-the-counter medicines. With the right ingredients these products can be converted into halal products.

“There are also opportunities to capitalise on Malaysia’s diverse natural flora and fauna to develop resource-based bio-generic drugs.

“Malaysia is one of the world’s 12 most bio-diverse countries and offers high potential for sourcing active compounds for healing and wellness products” he said.

On Halal tourism Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia is the top destination and as a leader the nation could certainly complement the wider medical tourism sector especially for Muslims worldwide.

Malaysia expects to see overall arrivals of more than 930000 medical tourists with estimated revenue reaching US233.99 million (RM1 billion) annually he said.

Experts say that halal pharmaceuticals could be commercially viable due to the growing number of Muslim consumers across the globe.

The global halal vaccine market could be valued at approximately $1.1 billion by 2030 if the market taps into its full consumer base, according to an expert.

This figure will represent around three per cent of the global preventive vaccine market by 2030, said Dr Tabassum Khan, managing director of AJ Pharma Holding, a Malaysia-based pharmaceutical firm, which is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian investment group Al Jomaih Group.

“Globally, Muslim consumers spend up to $70 billion on pharmaceutical products, making them the third largest group in the global pharmaceutical market,” Khan said during a session in the World Islamic Economic Forum on Wednesday.

“India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh could be the markets with the most potential as they have some of the largest Muslim populations in the world.”

Halal drugs are those that do not use any animal extracts, which are not Sharia compliant, or extracts from animals that are not slaughtered in accordance to the Sharia law.

“The first dimension of market potential is that there should be a critical mass for it and for the halal vaccines, the critical mass is the global Muslim population.”

However, Khan qualified that the market potential for halal vaccinations is dependent on the willingness of Muslims in populous countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan to accept them. With the current resistance to vaccinations across many countries, he said that the halal vaccination market would be worth just $96 million by 2030.

“The size of the market is directly dependent on the government purchase but there is currently a disconnect between the market potential and target population,” he said.

Khan added that many of these countries, which have a high number of Muslim consumers, are supplied vaccines through other global bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). This skews the value of the overall market potential, as the buyers are not the end consumers, the expert said.

He also warned that hurdles remain in the widespread use of halal vaccines in the market.

“Firstly, there are no regulations regarding the development of halal vaccinations while the cycle of development is also longer,” said Khan.

Production and distribution costs along with other associated costs, such as an initial investment of $700 million required to launch a new vaccine, also limit the market’s potential, the expert said.