In the face of numerous health crises including rising cholera outbreaks, world leaders, health groups and pharmaceutical firms, Thursday, announced $1.2 billion in funding for the production of vaccines in Africa. Announcing this at the opening of a summit in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron said the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator “will be an essential step towards a genuine African vaccine market.
” Addressing the summit which had leaders from Botswana, Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana, as well as visiting ministers, health groups and pharmaceutical firms in attendance, Macron said three quarters of this funding will come from Europe. Germany, according to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a video message, will contribute $318 billion to the scheme. France put in $100 million and the UK $60 million, while other donors include the United States, Canada, Norway, Japan and the Gates Foundation.
Also speaking, President African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, said the scheme “could become a catalyst for promoting the pharmaceutical industry in Africa and fostering collaboration between member states.” Africa imports “99 percent of its vaccines at an exorbitant cost”, he added. The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on the unequal global distribution of vaccines, as wealthy countries home to big pharma firms snapped up most doses, leaving Africa far behind.
The new scheme aims to move vaccine production to Africa to give the continent more sovereignty — and avoi.