More than a billion dollars were announced this Thursday, June 20 at the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation to accelerate the production of vaccines in Africa, a continent currently affected by a cholera epidemic. A forum during which the presidents of Senegal and Rwanda notably spoke, during its opening in Paris.
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THE Forum for vaccine sovereignty and innovation opened this Thursday in Paris. It is co-organized by France, the African Union and Gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron. The Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and that of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, in particular, made the trip.
The heads of state, representatives of the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), and those of the African Union (AU), have demonstrated their desire to form a united front to better finance health in Africa. The President of Senegal Bassirou Diomaye Faye notably recalled how the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted “ structural disparities between developed and developing countries in the field of vaccination » : « Although Africa accounts for around 20% of the world’s population, its vaccine industry provides just 0.25% of the world’s supply. The continent is still largely dependent on other regions of the world to cover its needs. »
Projects have been launched since the global pandemic, notably in Rwanda, where the German firm BioNtech has established itself in Kigali, where it should ultimately produce an anti-Covid-19 vaccine – but also against malaria and tuberculosis. “ The ambitious goal we must aim for is to create new vaccines and therapies to combat the diseases ravaging the African continent, using the latest technologies », insisted Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
More than 1 billion dollars have already been announced to strengthen local African production and to set up an ambitious “ accelerator of vaccine production in Africa » to support African projects.
Africa’s autonomy in terms of vaccines is at a standstill, recognized Moussa Faki Mahamat on behalf of the African Union. Vaccination and health sovereignty must be won, he added, like political sovereignty. The African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which is expected to receive $1 billion through Gavi to help set up more vaccine factories in Africa, is just one step, he stressed. States also have to resolve many legal and technical problems.
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This fund of around 1.1 billion euros, presented as a “ accelerator of vaccine production in Africa, will be an essential building block for building this true African vaccine market “, declared French President Emmanuel Macron at the opening of this event in Paris. The European Commission ensures “ three quarters of this funding “, underlined the Head of State, host of this summit in which four African leaders – Botswana, Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana -, around thirty ministers, representatives of international organizations, pharmaceutical companies, institutes research and banking.