BPJPH highlights urgency of halal certification for health products

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) underlined the importance of halal certification for health products, including vaccines, to ensure safety and quality.

"It is not only needed to meet the religious aspects but also to ensure the safety and quality of products used by the community," BPJPH Secretary Muhammad Aqil Irham noted in a statement received here on Thursday.

Irham remarked that in addition to being a guarantee of the products' halal status, halal certification also plays an important role in increasing the competitiveness of the national pharmaceutical industry.

"With the halal guarantee, it will be easier for pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, to be accepted in the domestic and international markets. This is a great opportunity for our industry to develop in the global market," Irham remarked.

Furthermore, he invited the public, especially academics, to play an active role in the halal ecosystem, especially as halal auditors.

"Especially from the health and pharmaceutical sectors, there is great potential to become halal auditors. This role is very important in ensuring that the certification process runs smoothly and that the products circulating meet halal standards," he remarked.

In the same statement, a researcher from the University of Indonesia (UI), Wahyu Septiono, drew attention to halal vaccines and people's skepticism about vaccines that can affect the immunization rate in Indonesia.

"Recently, polio cases were on the rise again in Indonesia. It shows the importance of shared understanding regarding halal vaccines so that the immunization rate can increase," Septiono stated.