The Director-General of the World Health Organization, WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has announced six African countries that will receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines on the African continent.
The African countries selected are Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
This was disclosed in a ceremony hosted by the European Council, France, South Africa and WHO which had President Macron, President Ramaphosa, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen in attendance.
In a statement, Dr Tedros said; “No other event like the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that reliance on a few companies to supply global public goods is limiting, and dangerous. In the mid- to long-term, the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need, with equitable access as their primary endpoint.”
President Buhari who spoke about the development all the way from Brussels, Belgium said; “I am delighted to receive the news of the selection of Nigeria among recipients of MRNA Vaccine technology transfer.
“We shall ensure the best use is made of the opportunity. Nigeria also offers to host the Bio-manufacturing Training hub proposed by World Health Organization (WHO).
“We commit to providing support to make the hub functional in the shortest possible time.
“Accordingly, we are prioritizing the manufacture of vaccines on the African continent and in the sharing and transfer of technology and intellectual property rights.
“We call on the EU to support the WTO towards the conclusion of negotiations on intellectual property rights’ waiver to ensure that the manufacturing of vaccines can start early in Africa,” he said.
The WHO mRNA technology transfer hub is part of a larger effort aimed at empowering low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines, medicines and diagnostics to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage.
