KENYA — The Kenyan Government has fulfilled its promise to the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) by providing KSh. 100 million (US$738,000) to establish a training hub for vaccine manufacturing in the country.
President William Ruto announced Kenya’s commitment to creating a local training hub for manufacturing vaccines and other medical products during his recent trip to Brussels, Belgium. The government has identified this project as a top priority.
KEMRI will use the funds to recruit the first group of trainees for the vaccine manufacturing program.
The cohort will comprise highly talented graduating students from local universities who have been competitively recruited to join KEMRI.
As part of the curriculum, the trainees will be attached to vaccine manufacturing companies in Europe, Korea, and Japan to gain in-depth practical exposure.
The program will also recruit postdoctoral fellows from the Kenyan diaspora to work with KEMRI scientists on vaccine development research and development projects.
This will facilitate knowledge transfer and ensure that KEMRI benefits from a diverse range of experiences.
The training hub for vaccine manufacturing will help Kenya build its capacity for vaccine development and reduce its reliance on imports.
The move is timely, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the need for vaccine self-sufficiency in Africa and around the world. This initiative could have significant benefits for the country’s public health and the economy.
Professor Elijah Songok, Acting Director General of KEMRI, expressed gratitude for the government’s commitment to the initiative and noted the high number of Kenyans completing or having completed their Ph.D. programs in vaccine and drug research abroad.
KEMRI plans to provide a platform for these talented individuals to contribute to the local vaccine manufacturing industry.
As Kenya races to become self-sufficient in vaccine production, the country faces a looming deadline as GAVI, the Global Vaccine Initiative, plans to cease its support for Kenya and other countries to access affordable vaccines for their immunization programs from 2027.
This puts a greater urgency on the establishment of local vaccine manufacturing capacity.
The efforts to establish local vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa are gaining momentum, with multiple initiatives and investments underway across the continent.
Kenya’s KEMRI initiative to establish a training hub for vaccine manufacturing has been complemented by similar initiatives in other African countries.
Senegal’s Institut Pasteur has been producing yellow fever vaccines for decades and recently announced a €75 million (US$82.5 million) financing agreement to support the construction of the new MADIBA vaccine manufacturing facility.
The investment is expected to expand its vaccine production capacity to include COVID-19 vaccines.
Similarly, South Africa’s Biovac Institute has been manufacturing vaccines for over a decade and recently partnered with Pfizer to produce COVID-19 vaccines for the African Union.
The new facility is scheduled to open later this year and produce 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses annually, with the hope to manufacture vaccines not just for the next pandemic but also for endemic diseases such as measles and polio.
Doses would be distributed throughout West Africa and perhaps even the entire continent.
Currently, Africa imports 99% of all its vaccines, but these initiatives represent an important step towards greater self-sufficiency in vaccine production and ensuring access to affordable and effective vaccines for the African population.
There are currently fewer than 10 African manufacturers that produce vaccines against any disease, mainly in Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.
With these new investments in vaccine manufacturing, the hope is to increase the number of African vaccine manufacturers and decrease the continent’s reliance on imports.
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