SWITZERLAND – The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that six African countries have been chosen to establish their own mRNA vaccine production, despite the continent’s lack of access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia have been chosen as the first recipients of technology from the World Health Organization’s global mRNA vaccine hub.
The announcement was made at a ceremony hosted by the European Council, France, South Africa, and WHO in the presence of President Macron, President Ramaphosa, European Council President Charles Michel, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Last year, the WHO picked a consortium including Afrigen for a pilot project to give poor and middle-income countries the know-how to make COVID vaccines.
The move came after market leaders of the mRNA COVID vaccine, Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna, declined a WHO request to share their technology and expertise.
The WHO mRNA technology transfer hub is part of a larger effort to equip low- and middle-income countries with the ability to produce their own vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics.
The WHO and consortium partners hope that their technology transfer hub will help bridge the gap between rich and poor countries in terms of vaccine access, and bolster the continent’s ability to combat Covid and other diseases, address health emergencies and achieve universal health coverage.
In 2021, the global mRNA technology transfer hub was established to assist manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries in producing their own vaccines by ensuring that they have all of the necessary operating procedures and know-how to manufacture mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards.
The hub was initially established to address the COVID-19 emergency, but it has the potential to expand manufacturing capacity for other products as well, putting countries in control of the types of vaccines and other products they require to address their health priorities.
Approximately 99 percent of Africa’s vaccines against all diseases are imported, with the remainder manufactured locally.
… In the mid- to long-term, the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need, with equitable access as their primary endpoint.”
Vaccine production to begin soon
WHO and partners will work with beneficiary countries to develop a roadmap and put in place the necessary training and support so that they can begin producing vaccines as soon as possible.
Commencement of vaccines production, however, will depend on the selected countries’ infrastructure, workforce, clinical research, and regulatory capacity.
Furthermore, WHO’s current regulatory strengthening activities in low- and middle-income countries will be expanded through the development of a global benchmarking tool that assesses countries’ ability to ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of health products.
The global benchmarking tool will also provide training where improvements are needed to build regulatory authorities that are agile and fit-for-purpose for the future.
The initial focus is on mRNA technologies and biologicals, which are important for vaccine production but can also be used for other products such as insulin to treat diabetes, cancer medicines.
The technology also has the potential to make vaccines for other priority diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV.
The ultimate goal is to broaden capacity development for national and regional production to include all health technologies.
Liked this article? Sign up to receive our regular email newsletters, focused on Africa and World’s healthcare industry, directly into your inbox. SUBSCRIBE HERE
