BY KHIRTINI K KUMARAN

Malaysia is one of the countries that have been part of the research and clinical trials . Dr Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim , Deputy Director-General ( Research & Technical Support ) of the Ministry of Health ( MoH ), spoke with The Health on the research and development conducted and helmed by MoH , especially on the Covid-19 virus and its vaccines . He also talked about issues such as health management , the rising number of positive cases , vaccine rollout and the proposed National Vaccine Centre .

What is the latest research carried out by the MoH on the Covid-19 virus and its vaccines ? We ’ ve researched the virus and the vaccines in the National Institute of Health ( NIH ). There are about 88 ongoing research , 44 research grants and over 44 publications .

For example , at the Institute for Medical Research ( IMR ), we have been doing genome sequencing to identify new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Malaysia since last year . There are also collaborations with our other colleagues in the universities and Malaysia Genome Institute ( MGI ).

We have done about 336 whole-genome sequencings of the virus and identified several mutations , including the South African mutation , UK mutation , and the Indian double mutation . In IMR , they are also preclinical studies to develop two types of Covid-19 vaccines - mRNA vaccines and

Dr Hishamshah

At the Institute for Medical Research ( IMR ), we have been doing genome sequencing to identify new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Malaysia since last year . There are also collaborations with our other colleagues in the universities and Malaysia Genome Institute ( MGI ).”

— Hishamshah

inactivated vaccines .

The studies that come under the ambit of the Institute for Clinical Research ( ICR ) are :

• The vigilance study on post-Covid-19 vaccination immunogenicity surveillance among healthcare workers , which was rolled out in March of this year , is for two years .

• The Safe COVAC study is a case-based clinical safety study . It aims to assess whether there is an increased risk of specific adverse events following vaccination with Covid-19 vaccines . Other studies include :

• A longitudinal study on neutralising antibodies among recovered Covid-19 patients 12 months after infection ;

• Assessing saliva sampling of Covid-19 rapid tests antigens . Evaluating several test kits that use saliva sampling ;

• Post-vaccination Covid-19 immunity and disease surveillance in Malaysia called the IMSURE study ;

• Antibody response about hospitalised Covid-19 patients according to the severity and ;

• Immune response after the first dose of Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines among recovered Covid-19 patients .

How do you obtain participants , and what are the challenges ? It is all voluntary as we advertise these studies to those willing to participate . They have to satisfy specific criteria . We have got the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria for any proper research .

For example , we recently completed a phase three trial with 3,000 local

participants for the inactivated vaccine developed by the Institute of Medical Biology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences ( IMBCAMS ).

The participants are all volunteers who are healthy and fit the criteria . And we explain the study and have them sign the consent . Their identity and information are protected . They will be anonymised , whether they will be given either the vaccine candidate or placebo . The study is conducted in a blinded fashion . So , they ’ re going to be randomised , and that ’ s why we call it a randomised control trial .

How significant is our local clinical and behavioural research capabilities , and how does it contribute to health management in the country ? Under the National Institutes of Health ( NIH ), we have six research institutes : Institute for Medical Research ( IMR ), Institute for Clinical Research ( ICR ), Institute for Public Health ( IPH ), Institute for Health Systems Research ( IHSR ), Institute for Health Management ( IHM ) and Institute for Behavioural Research ( IHBR ).

With regards to health management , behavioural research is critical , and this is done by the IHBR .

To date , they have done behavioural research such as why people smoke , usage of the internet for health information seeking , etc . There was behavioural research done on Covid-19 as well , such as on the SOP compliance and vaccine acceptance .

Findings from this periodical research , over time , give us a sense of whether the behaviour of our population has changed or not . And as we move forward , we can identify the kind of intervention that we need to do to make it more impactful and long-lasting .

We also have the Health Education Division ( HED ) under the MoH . So , there are usually collaborations between IHBR and HED . Apart from that , we also collaborate with the local universities and other researchers outside of MoH .

We have research collaborations with the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) because they have research capacity and funding . And we interact with them on a specific aspect of the research , which we want to highlight and study .