World Health Organization Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Thursday announced that Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia will be establishing mRNA vaccine production.
World Health Organization Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Thursday announced that Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia will be establishing mRNA vaccine production.
The announcement was made at a ceremony hosted by the European Council, France, South Africa and WHO in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said WHO statement. “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,” said the WHO chief.
“This is an initiative that will allow us to make our own vaccines and that, to us, is very important. It means mutual respect, mutual recognition of what we can all bring to the party, investment in our economies, infrastructure investment and, in many ways, giving back to the continent,” said Ramaphosa.
Macron said improved public health benefits, supporting African health sovereignty and economic development are the principal goals of strengthening local production in Africa. “In an interconnected world
