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SA invests R25m to boost pan-African vaccine and therapeutic capacity

South Africa is in the process of finalising a R25m investment to boost pan-African vaccine manufacturing capabilities towards COVID-19 through the African Renaissance Fund, President Cyril Ramaphosa is quoted in a Polity report as saying. Ramaphosa told an inaugural national conference on the coronavirus: "As the international community we have been unanimous that services, supplies, products and technologies for prevention, treatment and care of COVID-19 must be available to all. No country must be left behind," he told the conference, conducted virtually because of the travel restrictions necessitated by the pandemic.

Ramaphosa said scientific innovation would play an increasingly prominent role in managing the pandemic, given that resource constraints posed a very real barrier for many vulnerable countries to do this effectively. "We must continue to work tirelessly to develop technological solutions that meet our most pressing challenge, and that is resource scarcity," he said.

"This pandemic must be a clarion call for African nations to invest in what is already a vibrant pan-African science and innovation ecosystem," said Ramaphosa, who is also current chairman of the African Union. He said South African researchers were working in collaboration with international vaccine developers around a potential COVID-19 vaccine, while the South African Medical Research Council and the department of science and innovation had provided R10m funding for the first local vaccine trial.

 

Most African countries, with their developing health systems, have traditionally been locked out of access to some of the most essential medicines and equipment, writes Bada Pharasi, a senior adviser to DNDi/GARDP Southern Africa – the joint office of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership.

Pharasi writes in Business Day: Their participation in high-priced and competitive international pharmaceutical markets has been limited. These challenges have become glaringly clear during the coronavirus pandemic, as African countries have faced shortages in everything from gloves, gowns and face masks to testing kits and ventilators.

The Africa Medical Supplies Platform launched recently by Ramaphosa could be the turning point the continent needs, not only as it fights the fallout from COVID-19, but in future too. Described by Ramaphosa as the potential Amazon or Alibaba for resources to mitigate the coronavirus on the continent, the platform has been set up as a one-stop shop to address shortages and security of supply. It has also pledged to ensure price competitiveness and transparency in procurement.

Pharasi writes that this development creates an opportunity for the continent to work, after COVID-19, towards a lasting solution of pooled procurement, which would increase the availability of important health technologies, including drugs, vaccines and diagnostics.

He writes: Pooled procurement of medical supplies among all African states will not be achieved easily or within a short period, even with the best intentions. But there are bright spots in Africa and other regions, and significant successes have been recorded.

A successful regional pooled procurement mechanism is practised by the Pan American Health Organisation of Latin American and Caribbean countries. Under its Revolving Fund, the Pan American organisation has helped protect people against some of the world’s worst diseases, including polio, measles, yellow fever, rotavirus and hepatitis C.

Pooling orders can save costs, boost efficiencies and ultimately save lives, as demonstrated in a project carried out by the Clinton Health Access Initiative. By catalysing the scale-up of treatment for HIV/Aids, the Clinton initiative, together with the World Health Organisation’s Unitaid, helped cut the price of paediatric antiretrovirals more than 80% and get antiretrovirals to more than 400,000 children.

The pandemic should be used as an opportunity to forge a better deal for access to medicines in Africa. It is time to usher in a new era of intra-Africa co-operation and work towards a fairer deal to get medicines and supplies to the people who need them most, at prices they can afford.

 

[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/sa-finalising-r25m-investment-to-boost-pan-african-covid-19-vaccine-work—ramaphosa-2020-07-31"]Full Polity report[/link]

 

[link url="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2020-08-02-pooled-procurement-of-medical-supplies-is-the-booster-shot-africa-needs/"]Full Business Day opinion[/link]

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