World leaders, health organizations, and pharmaceutical companies announced a $1.2 billion funding initiative to support vaccine production in Africa during Thursday’s Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation in Paris.
The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare significant global disparities in vaccine access, particularly in Africa, grappling with multiple health challenges.
Addressing attendees, French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized the importance of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator as a critical step towards establishing a robust African vaccine market. He noted that currently, Africa produces only two percent of the vaccines it uses, aiming to increase production to sixty percent by 2040.
The recent resurgence of cholera across many African regions underscores the urgent need for local vaccine manufacturing capabilities. Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted health systems and jeopardized vaccination programs, leading to a UNICEF report revealing that 23 million children missed out on essential vaccines during the peak of the pandemic in 2021.
Also discussed at the forum, the Gavi vaccine alliance, a key event organizer, announced its intention to raise $9 billion for its vaccine programs, which distribute vaccines for over 20 diseases to underserved countries.
Gavi aims to allocate up to $1 billion over the next decade to enhance Africa’s manufacturing capabilities, improve global vaccine markets, and strengthen preparedness and response to pandemics and outbreaks.
Based in Geneva, the alliance plans to channel funds into African manufacturers upon achieving supply and regulatory milestones. This approach seeks to leverage market dynamics to lower vaccine costs and stimulate investment in production capabilities.
The initiative will also address contentious issues such as technology transfer, which some Western nations with influential pharmaceutical industries have opposed.
Additionally, it may explore establishing an African medicines agency and resolving regulatory challenges inherent in Africa’s diverse legal frameworks.