Dear subscriber,
Air transport has been the primary mode for delivering vaccines in Africa. But there is a better method that allows for bulk transportation and cuts costs and emissions.
Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has delivered over one million doses of vaccines to Senegal using sea transport, a method long considered unsuitable for temperature-sensitive health commodities. The shipment, moved in 22 days, maintained full cold chain integrity, with temperatures held largely at 5°C.
As local pharmaceutical manufacturing scales up in Africa, supply reports from UNICEF suggest sea freight can cut transport costs by about 70%, enabling bulk distribution and reducing reliance on expensive air cargo.
Carbon emissions can also be reduced by over 90%. Sea freight is likely a key ingredient of large-scale pharmaceutical distribution on the continent in the future.
Our take: While sea transport offers cost and sustainability benefits for routine vaccine delivery, it is not suitable for emergencies…Read more (2 min)
Navin Choubey, the Chief Executive Officer at Revital Healthcare, one of the largest manufacturers of disposable medical products in Africa, argues that the continent’s next major industrial opportunity might be hiding in plain sight: Healthcare manufacturing. He outlines how pharma production is beginning to take shape across the continent.
“Africa’s population is growing rapidly, healthcare demand is increasing and regional trade is becoming more integrated. Together, these factors are creating the conditions for a stronger and more resilient healthcare manufacturing ecosystem,” he says.
Choubey notes that investment, skilled talent and stronger supply chains will be essential to build a resilient and competitive pharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem in Africa.
Read the full opinion…Read more (2 min)
Kenya is hosting two of the biggest health events in Africa this April. The Africa Health Business Symposium focuses on strategic health investments and will take place from 21 April, while the World Health Summit Regional Meeting follows from 27 April to address pressing health challenges in the Continent.
There are 19 other healthcare conferences and forums across the continent through the end of June, to learn and network.
The conferences span public health, epidemiology, maternal and child health, emergency medicine, nutrition, health economics, policy, innovation, pharmaceuticals, bioethics and disease-specific forums.
Full list of events…Read more (2 min)
____________________
Africa CDC launches SPARK-NCDs programme to tackle noncommunicable diseases
Jobs
🧑⚕️Be the Communications Manager at IAVI (Kenya)
🧑⚕️Apply to be the Medical Science Liaison Officer at AstraZeneca (Kenya)
🧑⚕️Join Gates Foundation as a Deputy Director, AI Delivery (Kenya)
Various
💉 South Africa makes progress in HIV vaccine trials
💉 Cervical cancer vaccines fail to cover the HPV35 common in Africa
💉 Africa warns of future vaccine shortages
Seen on LinkedIn
Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General at Africa CDC, says, “Africa produces less than 5% of the diagnostics and just 1% of the vaccines it uses — a dependency that weakens emergency response, increases costs, and puts lives at risk.”