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The Documentary: Africa’s vaccine ambitions

Africa’s Vaccine Ambitions

03/08/2021 GMT

Africa’s vaccine ambitions

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Africa’s vaccine ambitions

What efforts are underway in Africa to build a home grown vaccine manufacturing industry?

Africa is a continent of more than 50 nations and 1.3 billion people, but only produces 1% of the vaccines it needs.  Rhoda Odhiambo explains the efforts underway to change this.

Africa is a continent of 1.3 billion people, but only makes 1% of the lifesaving vaccines it needs. The continent’s 54 nations are almost entirely dependent on agencies like Unicef and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for these essential pharmaceuticals.  But the pandemic of 2020 has been a harsh lesson in the dangers of relying on other countries and agencies for such crucial provisions.

Numerous vaccine clinical trials have been conducted in Africa, yet these nations still find themselves at back of the queue for Covid 19 jabs.  However, efforts are now underway to change this. At a conference in early April, African leaders pledged to manufacture 60% of the vaccines they need by 2040. But is this an achievable goal?  Building a successful vaccine manufacturing sector will need several things to come together at the same time: financial investments amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars; expanding expertise in scientific research and development; long term commitments from governments to purchase a range of vaccines; and globally recognised regulatory bodies.  At the moment, Africa is lacking many of these elements. This is a situation which is clearly neither acceptable nor sustainable.  

In this documentary Rhoda Odhiambo speaks with the key figures working to harness the intellectual and financial capital of the world’s fastest growing populations to make vaccine manufacturing in Africa a home grown industry, rather than a global charity case.

Guests:  
Dr Ama Pokuaa Fenny, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economics Research, University of Ghana.
Professor Christian Happi, Director -African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Redeemer’s University
Dr Nicaise Ndembi, Senior Science Advisor, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
Patrick Tippo, Executive Director, African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative

Presenter Rhoda Odhiambo

Producer: Sandra Kanthal

Editor: Richard Vadon

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