African health experts plot ambitious 10-year local vaccine and medicine production plan

Health emergencies such as mpox and the Covid-19 pandemic have been a rude awakening for Africa. (Cris Cantón/Getty Images)

The 74th session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa is under way in Congo-Brazzaville.Stakeholders aim to uphold Lusaka Agenda on the way to starting a decade-long plan to produce vaccines and medicines locally.The aim is to achieve at least 55% of the market share and 50% of vaccine doses produced locally by 2035.

Health experts gathered in Congo-Brazzaville at the 74th session of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa have committed to strengthening local production of medicines, vaccines, and health technologies between 2025 and 2035.

Recent health emergencies such as mpox and the devastating Covid-19 pandemic were a rude awakening for Africa because it had to rely on global medical product supply chains that did not treat the continent as a priority.

Among the many health crises in Africa is cervical cancer which remains the leading cause of cancer deaths among women.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa, said gaps in dealing with it were mostly low access to vaccines and high-performance screening tools.

“The burden of cervical cancer in Africa is a stark illustration of the impacts of global inequities, which exacerbate barriers including scarce resources, lack of prioritisation by funders, and ultimately, limited capacity to manage the threat,” she said. 

“Affordable and accessible human papillomavirus (HPV) tests and vaccines are critical if we are to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem in the region, and narrow the wide gap in health inequality globally.”

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Africa imports between 70% and 100% of finished pharmaceutical products, 99% of vaccines, and between 90% and 100% of medical devices and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

There’s little or no capacity to manufacture pharmaceutical-quality excipients, vaccines, medical devices, and other health technologies.

On Thursday, during a special session, at the gathering, delegates agreed that it was time to operationalise the Lusaka Agenda they agreed upon in December last year.

The Lusaka Agenda is a collective commitment to maximise health impact investments across the continent.

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According to a framework document shared during the session, challenges faced by Africa are inadequate policy coherence and legal frameworks, poor regulatory oversight capacity, and insufficient investment in and coordination of research and development.

African countries are also disadvantaged by limited access to technology transfer, poor supply chain management and inefficient procurement, the blueprint document stated. 

By 2035, the aim is to “achieve at least 55% of the market share and 50% of vaccine doses produced locally.”

According to a survey carried out by WHO last year in July, “only 50% or less of local manufacturers were certified good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant by their national regulatory authorities (NRAs), emphasising the need to facilitate compliance of local industry with current GMP”.

Only South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania in Sub-Saharan Africa have stable well-functioning and integrated regulatory systems, according to WHO.

The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

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