Kenya is among the first six countries that will receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines on the African continent, World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced.
The technology will help the countries to set up their own vaccine production centres helping the continent acquire self-reliance against the Covid pandemic.
The other five countries include; Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, made the announcement at the European Union – African Union summit in Brussels, at a ceremony hosted by the European Council, France, South Africa and WHO in the presence of President Macron, President Ramaphosa, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Dr Ghebreyesus said: “No other event like the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that reliance on a few companies to supply global public goods is limiting, and dangerous. 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.”
According to a statement by WHO, the WHO mRNA technology transfer hub is part of a larger effort aimed at empowering low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines, medicines and diagnostics to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage.
The initial effort is centred on mRNA technologies and biologicals, which are important for vaccine manufacturing and can also be used for other products, such as insulin to treat diabetes, cancer medicines and, potentially, vaccines for other priority diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
The ultimate goal is to extend capacity building for national and regional production to all health technologies.
Dr Tedros noted that Currently, 116 countries are off track for our shared target of vaccinating 70% of the population of every country by the middle of this year. More than 80% of the population of Africa is yet to receive a single dose.
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya appreciated the gesture saying it “demonstrates the power of partnerships to change the trajectory of Africa’s health for the better.”
In 2021, Kenya expressed interest for the establishment of a technology transfer hub for mRNA vaccines in the country after WHO in April 2021, issued a call for expressions of interest to companies wishing to host an mRNA technology transfer hub.
In June 2021, WHO announced that it had selected a South African consortium to run the global hub, which will serve all low- and middle-income countries.
While appreciating Kenya’s selection, President Kenyatta said it was a vote of confidence for local scientists “within our institutions and across the region.”
The Head of State observed that the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed the inequality facing developing nations, adding that the mRNA technology transfer hub program was a welcome move of immense historic significance.
President Kenyatta noted: “Today marks a new dawn of hope and promise for the African continent and her people. As one of the region’s foremost leaders in biomedical research, Kenya is honoured to be listed as one of the beneficiary countries of the mRNA technology transfer program,” President Kenyatta said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, of South Africa said: “This is an initiative that will allow us to make our own vaccines and that, to us, is very important. It means mutual respect, mutual recognition of what we can all bring to the party, investment in our economies, infrastructure investment and, in many ways, giving back to the continent.”
President Emmanuel Macron, of France said: “Improved public health benefits, supporting African health sovereignty and economic development are the principal goals of strengthening local production in Africa. In an interconnected world, we need stronger and new partnerships between countries, development partners and other stakeholders to empower regions and countries to fend for themselves, during crises, and in peace time.”
President Charles Michel, European Council said: “We need to create an environment where every scientist, health worker, and government can band together for a common cause. Working together to build new solutions to protect what is most precious – our health and our lives.”
To ensure that all countries build the necessary capacity to produce their own vaccines and other health technologies, WHO has been working to establish a biomanufacturing workforce training hub that will train people from all interested countries in scientific and clinical research and production capacity. The training hub will be announced in the coming weeks.
In addition, WHO’s current regulatory strengthening activities in low- and middle-income countries will expand through a global benchmarking tool that assesses countries’ ability to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of health products and provides training where improvements are needed to build regulatory authorities that are agile and fit-for-purpose for the future.
