BERLIN: Africa is stepping up efforts to expand local vaccine manufacturing and reduce its dependence on imported vaccines while continuing to collaborate with international pharmaceutical companies, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) told The Global Envoy.
Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, told The Global Envoy’s Rohan Dua on the sidelines of the October 11-13 World Health Summit in Berlin that African leaders were committed to building domestic manufacturing capacity to strengthen the continent’s health security.
“Our leaders are clear on that and we are implementing this policy of local manufacturing,” Kaseya said.
He cited the establishment of the African Medicines Agency to strengthen pharmaceutical regulation and the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism to consolidate demand for medical products.
Africa would continue working with international partners, including pharmaceutical companies in the United States, Europe, India and China, Kaseya said.
“We are working with the US, with Europe, India, China, with everyone,” he told The Global Envoy.
“But what we are saying, let us also at the same time support this agenda of local manufacturing in our country,” he added.
African countries have long faced challenges in securing timely access to vaccines and other essential medical supplies during disease outbreaks. Expanding regional manufacturing is intended to strengthen supply chains and improve the continent’s ability to respond to future health emergencies.
In his conversation with Dua, Kaseya also highlighted the risk of a pandemic emerging from Africa, given the frequency of outbreaks across the continent.
“The main challenge that we have today and what is making me awake every night is to see a pandemic coming from Africa with the number of outbreaks that we have,” he said.
Preparedness requires investment in healthcare workers, domestic financing, local manufacturing and digital systems, Kaseya said.
Africa CDC is pushing for greater domestic financing to create the conditions needed to prepare for outbreaks and respond rapidly when they occur.
“This is why we are pushing more for domestic financing in terms of getting a conducive environment to respond or to prepare for the outbreaks,” he told The Global Envoy.
Local manufacturing is another essential element of preparedness, helping countries secure medical products when international supply chains come under pressure, he said. Digital systems can also strengthen disease surveillance and improve the speed of public health responses.
“Combining all of that will help us to be well prepared or to avoid to delay the pandemic,” Kaseya said.
His remarks underscore Africa’s efforts to strengthen health security by building domestic production capacity while maintaining international cooperation on vaccines, medicines and medical technologies.
The strategy seeks to reduce reliance on external suppliers without abandoning global partnerships, as African governments work to improve access to essential medical products and prepare for future health emergencies.
