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Africa imports over 90% of its medicines and vaccines, a dependence that affects access to proper healthcare services. The continent has, however, declared to produce over 60% of the medicines it needs locally by 2040. One challenge to achieving this is the skills gap, and a new upskilling project targets this.
Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor
Meeting a likely demand surge, Africa aims to grow fourfold its drug manufacturing workforce by 2030 following the designation of three biomanufacturing training hubs by the WHO. The hubs will receive end-to-end training support, including technology transfer, quality systems, regulatory compliance, clinical development and production scale-up.
According to the Africa CDC, the continent currently has fewer than 3,000 experts in drug manufacturing, with many of these in research roles rather than dedicated to production. The continent needs approximately 12,000 full-time experts to meet the goal of producing 60% of its medical products by 2040.
The hubs, based in Egypt, Senegal and South Africa, can only meet the skills projection if funding for technology and trainers is sustained and if the training is aligned with evolving biomanufacturing standards.
Our take: A lot of investment is needed to convert a small pool of less than 3,000 experts into a production-ready workforce fast enough to close a widening manufacturing skills gap…Read more (2 min)
The Africa CDC in partnership with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine and the European Union have launched a four-year surveillance initiative to generate drug resistance data across the continent. Fackswell Mateyo, a pharmacist, explains how AI can use this data to prescribe antibiotics and fight drug resistance.
“Investment in local microbiology laboratory capacity and structured resistance surveillance is not optional infrastructure. It is the prerequisite without which AI-guided prescribing cannot deliver accurate guidance in Africa.” Says Mateyo.
He adds that AI-guided prescribing could transform how antibiotics are used. It can make treatment more precise, improve patient outcomes, reduce resistance and support data-driven decisions in healthcare.
Read the full opinion…Read more (2 min)
We have tracked 42 mid and senior level roles in nutrition, vaccination, technology, pharma manufacturing and infectious disease control across the continent. Medical representatives and Senior medical representatives are the most widely advertised roles, accounting for 9 of 42 jobs across multiple organisations, especially in Egypt.
The top recruiters include Pfizer, Crossing Hurdles, Partners In Health, CloserMed and Mediclinic, each accounting for 2 roles.
North Africa leads with 17 followed by Southern Africa with10 roles, East Africa with 8 roles, West Africa with 5 roles and Central Africa with 1 role.
Full list of jobs…Read more (2 min)
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Proparco, a French development finance institution invests $180 million to support the expansion of a multi-vaccine manufacturing facility owned by Biovac
Events
🗓️ Participate in World Conference on Medical Ethics in Lesotho (May 16)
🗓️ Join the 10th Healthcare Innovation Summit Africa in SA (May 27)
🗓️ Attend the International Conference on Public Health in Africa in Ethiopia (Nov 23)
Various
💉 Hantavirus revives fears of Covid-19 pandemic in East Africa
💉 Pandemic agreement delayed as Africa say no to data exploitation
💉 Moroccan startup Blink Pharma wins GITEX future health Africa challenge
Seen on LinkedIn
Josephine Sarpong, a sexual and reproductive health expert, says, “Africa cannot build resilient health systems without intentionally investing in the people who sustain them every day.”