Vietnamese scientists on Wednesday claim to have developed a new kind of vaccines against rabies using cell-growing technique, which it says, is more effective than existing ones. However the World Health Organization has warned that rabies vaccines produced in Vietnam shows limited effectiveness.

Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, vice director of Vietnam's National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology told the Young People newspaper that the new vaccines have stronger safety indicator that currently available locally-produced vaccines.

Hanh said Hanoi has imported over 100,000 doses of rabies vaccines in recent years.

Data from the country's health ministry show that an estimated 5.9 million Vietnamese have been bitten by rabies-infected dogs or cats in the last 10 years. The figure is much higher that the pre-1996 figure, the ministry said.

Vietnam, with a population of over 83 million, is encouraging vaccinations among people and dogs in a bid to contain the disease in 2010 and eradicate it by 2015.