The European Union (EU) has vowed to support the African Union (AU) in its ambitious goal to produce 60% of vaccines in Africa by 2040.
The European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutti Urpilainen, says that following lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU and AU are committed to advancing health systems and strengthening health capacities in Africa and across the world.
Speaking last week at a high-level conference held to signify strategic expansion of the AU-EU health partnership, Urpilainen told media that both institutions are proud of the collaborative efforts.
“The COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call that health challenges don’t stop at borders,” she said.
“We are proud of the results achieved in increasing local manufacturing of medicines in Africa for Africa.”
In December 2023, equipment was delivered to start manufacturing mRNA vaccines in Rwanda. The EU is already working with Gavi and the Global Fund to increase demand for locally produced health products.
The EU has indicated that it aims to mobilise 150 billion euros in health ventures by 2027 through the Global Activity Africa-Europe Investment Package.
Both institutions have stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic showed that Africa should invest in vaccine development and health research, particularly on the backdrop of bioterrorism threats around the world and fears of biological warfare as well as also an increase in zoonotic infections (disease transmission from animals to humans).
Data findings indicate that Africa’s population is vulnerable to biologically engineered outbreaks as well as valid illnesses and diseases contracted from animals to human beings vice versa.
Delegates at the ground breaking of the construction of the African Union (AU)’s new $56 million Pan Veterinary Vaccine Centre (PANVAC) laboratory centre in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, echoed this sentiment of close collaboration and highlighted the need to support efforts geared at accurate health research in Africa for animal and human wellness, and for Africa to also develop vaccines that would prevent disease and protect lives.
When addressing attendees at the ground breaking ceremony, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expressed confidence in local capacity and health expertise, indicating that the facility would bring positive transformation across the spectrum of health research in Africa.
Mahamat said that the ultra-modern architecture of PANVAC's future laboratory complex will enable it to strengthen its position as a centre of excellence for research, development, and technology transfer for the production of veterinary vaccines in Africa to protect livestock on which so many communities depend. He noted that the AU-PANVAC will serve as a platform for collaboration, bringing together experts, researchers and policymakers from across the continent.
“By sharing knowledge and expertise, we aim to address the unique veterinary challenges faced by different regions, promoting a pan-African approach to disease prevention and control to achieve our Agenda 2063,” he said.
He further said that stakeholders have a duty to protect both animals and humans because of late there has been a large transmission of illnesses from animals to human beings. He further pointed out that this also includes improving on access of clean water resources, improving sanitation and hygiene services, and routine vaccination. He emphasised that research is key for early detection and response, in the effort to avoid or better manage the situation in terms of outbreaks, should the continent face another pandemic.
Mahamat’s views were reiterated the African Union Commission’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, who noted that the establishment of AU-PANVAC and its subsequent institutionalisation under the AU is based on the recognition that an independent and secondary level of quality testing is a pre-requisite for minimising risks associated with the use of poor quality or potentially unsafe vaccines.
He added that the expansion of PANVAC’s mandate to include control of all veterinary vaccines and the production of essential diagnostic reagents, is founded on the belief that livestock health in Africa, with regards to major vaccine preventable diseases, can be substantially improved by the use of quality vaccines and good laboratory diagnostic support.
The vision of the AU-PANVAC research facility is to build a recognised reference centre in the international arena for vaccine quality control, technology transfer, production of diagnostic and surveillance regents and capacity building, driven by and for all African professionals.
Sacko added that to justify the new facility, findings have established that up to 75% of new emerging infectious diseases affecting humans are zoonotic diseases that can cause epidemic/outbreaks leading to high rates of morbidity and mortality in humans and animals. These outbreaks also disrupt regional and global trade, while straining national and global public health resources.
“Therefore appropriate control of animal disease will contribute to improved human health in accordance with Concept of One Health.”
He also noted that the global community is also concerned with bioterrorism and the use of biologicals as weapons to impact animal and human health.
“The need for laboratories to implement biosafety and biosecurity measures/norms is becoming a requirement and pre-requisite to handle pathogens.
“Appropriate management of pathogenic organisms is critical.
“Implementing biosafety and biosecurity measures in laboratories will contribute to protecting animal and human health as well as the environment from intentional and accidental releases.”
*Keletso Thobega is a freelance development journalist, and Fellow of the African Union (AU) Media Fellowship and United Nations (UN) Health Reporting Fellowship
