Dear subscriber,
We must celebrate a bold move towards local pharma manufacturing. But ambition alone won’t do the job. An incredibly steep path is ahead.
Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor
African governments have set a target to meet 60% of health-product demand through local manufacturing by 2040. The declaration was adopted during the African Union’s 39th Summit. While this sounds like a medical-industrial turning point, reaching the target will require solving major operational challenges.
A key focus of the declaration is creating predictable demand for manufacturers through pooled procurement and long-term offtake arrangements.
However, to scale, local pharmaceutical companies need financing, regulatory approvals, quality checks, clinical trials and reliable cross-border logistics and sales.
Our take: The AU declaration is great. But all the hard work is yet to be done…Read more (2 min)
Decentralised supply chain logistics are undermining malaria control across Africa. In Nigeria, for example, seasonal malaria prevention campaigns and routine treatment pipelines operate through separate channels. In this op-ed, Michael Audu, a Nigerian public health professional, explains how fragmented logistics systems increase the burden of malaria.
"Fragmentation can contribute to stock imbalances at service delivery points. A facility may have ample malaria supplies during seasonal campaigns while routine treatment supplies may be temporarily unavailable, resulting in interruptions in access to essential care."
He explains how this fragmentation reduces efficiency and limits use of scarce resources and argues that harmonised supply chains can make every malaria dollar count in protecting communities across the continent.
Read the full opinion here…Read more (2 min)
We have tracked over 50 mid and senior level roles in nutrition, vaccination, technology and infectious disease control across the continent. The WHO and Africa CDC are scaling technical hires in Ethiopia just months after the December 2025 launch of the Fourth National Action Plan for the Prevention and Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
The two organisations are hiring in Ethiopia for AMR surveillance, AMR data, bioinformatics and environmental monitoring roles, a deliberate move to operationalise the country’s new national antimicrobial resistance strategy.
Other leading recruiters include Jhpiego Corporation and FHI 360 that have multiple open positions across the continent. East Africa leads in this hiring round, followed by Southern Africa, West Africa then Central Africa.
Find the full list of jobs here…Read more (2 min)
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Source: Africa CDC
Africa CDC urges governments to fund first continent-wide immunisation plan
Events
🗓️ Attend the 2026 Africa Health Conference (February 21)
🗓️ Plan to be at the Primary Health Care Congress Kenya (March 4)
🗓️ Register for the Africa Health Business in Kenya (April 21)
🗓️ Participate in World Health Summit in Kenya (April 27)
Various
💉 Kenya pushes for vaccine independence
💉 Uganda strengthens district-level readiness for health emergencies
💉 Sustained response curbs cholera outbreak in South Sudan
Seen on LinkedIn
Levi Cheruo, a Medical Doctor, says, “AI is revolutionizing global healthcare, but the biggest hurdle isn't the algorithm, it's trust. As we move from human dyads to AI-driven triads, we must bridge the gap between innovation and clinical empathy to save lives.”