President Paul Kagame has welcomed the latest development by global biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer, to make all of its patented medicines and vaccines available at a not for profit price to 45 developing countries.
The development announced Wednesday in Davos at the World Economic Forum (WEF) by the drugmaker's Chief Executive Albert Bourla, comes at a time when the existing health equity gap determines who can use specific innovation and who cannot.
If available at all, it can take seven years longer for new treatments to become available in low-income countries, experts say.
During a press conference organised to announce the development, President Kagame said that rapid and affordable access to the most advanced medicines and vaccines is a cornerstone of global health equity.
He highlighted that Pfizer's commitment under the accord dubbed 'An accord for a Healthier World' sets a new standard in this regard, which needs to be emulated by others.
"Rwanda is very happy to take part in accord together with partner countries and we look forward to adding these life-saving medicines and vaccines to our public health," Kagame said in a press conference, joined by Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera, Bill Gates, and Pfizer top management.
Rwanda is among the five African countries which have already committed to join the accord, alongside Malawi, Ghana, Senegal and Uganda.
Healthcare officials from the five countries will work with Pfizer to identify early insights and opportunities that will enable all medicines and vaccines to reach those in need.
"Combined with additional investments in strengthening Africa's public health systems, and pharmaceutical regulators, this accord is an important step towards sustainable health security, for countries at every income level," the head of state asserted.
Pfizer said its plan includes 23 wholly-owned, patented medicines and vaccines that treat infectious diseases, certain cancers, and rare and inflammatory diseases.
In addition to Paxlovid and Ibrance, the list includes high demand-pneumonia vaccine Prevnar 13, rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz and cancer treatments Xalkori and Inlyta.
Chief Executive Albert Bourla also said that the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty developed with BioNTech SE was also on the list.
This commitment will include all future Pfizer medicines and vaccines, as they are discovered and launched as well, he added.
"As we learnt in the Covd-19 vaccine roll-out, ensuring supply is only the first step to helping patients,"
He added, "For this reason, and in order to make the accord successful, we look to collaborate with global health leaders to make improvements in other aspects that affect the use of the product like diagnosis, education, infrastructure, storage, logistics, and many others."
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Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera said that the beauty of this accord for countries like Malawi is that it is not a handout, but a real partnership that invites strength in manufacturing, strength in philanthropy, and strength in governance.
"For Malawi... , this accord means that our quest for universal healthcare has a real shot," he asserted.
To further this commitment, Pfizer, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said it is advancing work on the development of vaccine candidates for the prevention of Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a leading cause of stillbirth and newborn mortality in low-income countries.
Both organisations are also discussing opportunities to support Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine development, another maternal vaccine.
"Everyone, no matter where they live, should have the same access to innovative, life-saving drugs and vaccines," said Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"The Accord for a Healthier World could help millions more people in low-income countries get the tools they need to live a healthy life. Pfizer is setting an example for other companies to follow," Gates added.
