Nairobi, Kenya — The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) hosted the African Vaccine Manufacturing Supply Chain Forum, in Nairobi, Kenya, from 31 January to 02 February 2024, to discuss about the sustainable supply of input materials to support vaccine manufacturing as the continent witnesses a surge in vaccine manufacturing.
Vaccine demand in Africa is expected to rise from approximately 1.4 billion doses to over 2.1 billion doses by 2040. Africa CDC identified a range of roadblocks for urgent interventions to support local vaccine manufacturers in establishing strong and resilient supply chains to enable the African vaccine manufacturing industry to develop, produce, and supply around 60 per cent of the total vaccine doses required by 2040. Africa CDC's framework for action on local manufacturing aims to develop a robust and reliable continent-wide reach vaccine manufacturing ecosystem aimed at localising the supply of critical input materials and harmonising trade regulations.
In her opening remarks, H.E. Susan Nakhumicha, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health, Republic of Kenya, expressed that developing the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector has been considered a core part of building a progressive and sustainable healthcare system in Kenya. "Local manufacturers are heavily invested in securing input materials and consumables required for local production. Thus, in this Forum, let's start considering the entire end-to-end manufacturing value chain that will accelerate growth and stability for the local manufacturing industry in line with the African Union's goal of 60% and enhance our continent's self-reliability during pandemic outbreaks."
The Africa CDC's New Public Health Order calls to action to expand local manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. The lessons learned from COVID-19 were that pandemic preparedness and response will be boosted by developing Africa's capability to manufacture all health products.
"We need to start broadening our perspectives and consider the full end-to-end supply chain, i.e., increasing the regional vaccine manufacturing capacities, which will inevitably require uninterrupted, cost-effective, and timely access to numerous input materials. He added that Africa CDC is committed to working with all partners to guarantee this access for our manufacturers' success. The Forum is an important step towards achieving that goal," said Dr Abebe Genetu Bayih, Acting PAVM Coordinator, speaking on behalf of H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa CDC.
The African Supply Chain Forum provides industry, stakeholders, and regional experts a platform to carve out a roadmap for future-proofing African input material supply needed for vaccine manufacturing. As Africa's vaccine manufacturing capacity expands, securing a resilient supply of essential input materials will be crucial to improving the future pandemic and surging demand for vaccine supply. Hence, cross-sector planning will support better outbreak preparedness and help to ensure faster and more equitable access to vaccines made in Africa, for Africa, said Dr. Matthew Downham, Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Networks at CEPI.
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The three-day meeting with over 150 participants representing key stakeholder groups, including from African Union Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Manufacturers, Local and International Suppliers, Funders, and Development partners, discussed the needs and challenges of African vaccine manufacturers and suppliers to develop new strategies to secure input and define a roadmap to steer strategy implementation.
