Dear subscriber,
Malaria cases are increasing as a result of climate change and drug resistance is a major threat to treatment. The continent has new preventives that counter resistant mosquitoes and this is the right time to invest in their manufacturing.
Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor
The annual World Health Organization report on Malaria warns that antimalarial drug resistance is a threat to treating rising malaria cases in Africa. This leaves the continent with the option of expanding local manufacturing of preventives that counter resistant mosquitoes like the malaria vaccine, dual insecticide bed nets, spatial repellents and others.
According to the report, there were 282 million cases of malaria in 2024, an increase of about 9 million cases, with 95% of these reported in Africa. Eight countries have confirmed antimalarial drug resistance, including to artemisinin, a WHO recommended treatment.
In July 2025, Gavi secured a deal with Bharat Biotech and GSK to cut the price of the first ever malaria vaccine by half. Despite this milestone, local manufacturing of both preventives and treatments for malaria remain low in Africa.
Our take: Only six pharmaceutical firms on the continent have achieved WHO-prequalification to manufacture antimalarials amid the rising infections fueled by climate change…Read more (2 min)
A generation of healthtech startups in Africa are building smart, last mile solutions yet most of them lack finances to scale and reach underserved communities. They include drone-delivered blood, AI-powered diagnostics, WhatsApp consultations, simple cold chain equipment, home sample collections, digital data tools and more.
Dr Mike Adeyemi Lawal, a Malaria and Infectious Diseases Specialist Advisor at Médecins Sans Frontières, explores several ways that health tech startups in Africa can secure funding to scale and the organisations that can fund or partner with them.
“While African health tech founders have access to a growing variety of funding sources, each suited to a specific phase of start-up maturity, understanding these funding options is crucial for navigating both health outcomes and commercial sustainability.” Says Dr Adeyemi.
Read the full opinion…Read more (2 min)
Amref Health Africa has launched the Integrated Health System Strengthening Project in Ethiopia with support from the Gates Foundation. It is hiring Project officers across the country to help with implementation. There are national project officers positions while others mention regions like Amhara and Oromia.
We list over 50 other health job openings across the continent that will expire in late December and early January.
According to our analysis, Eastern Africa leads in new hiring followed by Western Africa, Southern Africa and Central Africa.
Find the full list here…Read more (2 min)
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(Source: SFA)
Experts recommend collaboration at the virtual series of the annual Africa Regulatory Conference to increase clinical trials and local manufacturing (SFA)
Events
🗓️ Register for the World Health Expo Leaders in Ghana (Dec 9)
🗓️ Participate in the Universal Health Coverage Day (Dec 12)
🗓️ Attend the Conference onn Medical Advancements in Kenya (Dec 12)
Various
💉 Iran explores potential to develop health ties with Africa
💉 US signs $2.5bn deal with Kenya for combating infectious diseases
💉 US signs a $228m health deal with Rwanda
Seen on LinkedIn
Lubabalo Mnyaka, a Medical Doctor, says, “Despite serving the majority, the public health sector in Africa receives less than half the national health budgets and must stretch it across over 4,000 facilities in each country, millions of chronic patients and a rising noncommunicable diseases tsunami.”__________________