France has set an ambitious goal to mobilize over a billion dollars aimed at accelerating vaccine production in Africa.
In collaboration with the African Union (AU) and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, France is spearheading the Global Forum on Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation, scheduled for June 20, 2013, in Paris.
This forum will bring together several African heads of state, around twenty health ministers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and pharmaceutical industry leaders at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters.
A new innovative financial mechanism, called the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), will be officially launched to promote African countries’ vaccine production independence. The aim is to generate 60% of required vaccine doses by 2040. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and the shortcomings of the international aid mechanism COVAX, the fifty-four African countries are highly dependent on foreign manufacturers, who supply over 98% of vaccines used on the continent.
“We do not want to experience again what we went through with India,” explains Jean Kaseya, Director of CDC Africa, the AU public health agency. “When the Omicron wave hit in 2022, the Serum Institute of India, from which African countries had ordered millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines, suspended deliveries to prioritize the Indian population.”
The Élysée Palace announced that the European Union, particularly France, Germany, and Italy, will contribute “three-quarters” of the funding for the AVMA fund. The total amount is expected to “exceed one billion dollars” (approximately 930 million euros) with contributions from the United States, Canada, South Korea, and Japan. Over the next decade, these funds will be available to enhance vaccine production capacity in Africa.
Source: Le Monde
