PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron joined several African leaders Thursday in releasing a $1 billion allocation to boost vaccine rollouts in Africa, after the coronavirus pandemic exposed huge vaccine inequalities.
The launch of the Africa Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which will offer financial incentives to vaccine makers, gave Macron a momentary pause in domestic political concerns ahead of legislative elections on June 30 and July 7.
Many African leaders and defense teams say Africa was unfairly disadvantaged in access to COVID-19 treatment tools, vaccines and testing devices, which many wealthy countries bought in massive quantities, after the pandemic was declared in 2020.
The WHO, advocacy groups, the European Union and others must help Africa better prepare for the next pandemic, which many fitness experts consider inevitable. When the coronavirus pandemic began, South Africa was the only country in Africa with the capacity to produce vaccines. officials say, and the continent produced a small fraction of all the world’s vaccines.
“Africa produces only 2% of the vaccines it uses, and the goal we have set ourselves is that, by 2040, production will increase to 60%,” Macron said at the launch event. “France and Europe have supported this ambition since 2021 with €1. 3 billion (allocated), and we will have to increase it. “
The WHO has failed in its efforts to help countries agree on a “pandemic treaty” – aimed at improving pandemic preparedness and response – ahead of its annual meeting last month. The task was largely scrapped due to disagreements over sharing data on pathogens. that cause outbreaks and the high-tech equipment used to fight them.
Negotiators will resume work on the treaty in hopes of clinching a deal by the next WHO annual meeting in 2025.
Thursday’s occasion in Paris is also aimed at giving a boost to investment by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership that is helping deliver needed vaccines to emerging countries around the world.
Gavi says the task aims to unlock up to $1 billion over the next decade to help strengthen Africa’s production base, global vaccine markets, and preparedness and response to pandemics and epidemics such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and COVID-19.
The Geneva-based alliance says the accelerator will inject budget into brands in Africa once they succeed in the sourcing and regulatory stages, with the aim of market forces reducing costs and inspiring upstream investment.
Officials say the task will explore issues such as generational change — which some Western countries with tough pharmaceutical corporations have resisted — as well as the envisioned creation of an African drug company and the resolution of regulatory hurdles in Africa’s patchwork of legal systems.
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Jamey Keaten reported from Geneva.