The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for establishment of an Integrated Vaccine Complex (IVC) at Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram district in Tamil Nadu.

The complex will be established by HLL Life Care Limited, a public sector undertaking of the Ministry at an estimated cost of Rs.594 crore. The project is likely to be completed by 2014, said an official release here.

The complex shall be the nodal centre for research, manufacture and supply of vaccines at affordable prices for the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) of the Government of India. The vaccines to be manufactured in the IVC are pentavalent combination (DPT plus Hep B plus Hib), BCG, measles, hepatitis B, Human Rabies, Hib and Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.

The annual capacity of IVC is expected to be around 585 million doses. The vaccines manufactured in the IVC complex are proposed to meet about 75 per cent of the total requirement of vaccines covered under the UIP and shall be able to meet the requirements of the major disease preventable vaccines in the country to a large extent.

The project is of national importance and will provide vaccine security and consequently the health security of the nation. Vaccines produced in the complex shall be utilized for immunization of pregnant women, infants and small children against various diseases throughout the country.