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Africa depends greatly on global vaccines stockpiles to run its immunisations programmes. The continent only produces 1% of its vaccines, making vaccine access difficult, especially during emergencies. A new project supports local production and access.
Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor
African vaccine manufacturers will be able to sell up to 70 million vaccine doses under a proposed $189 million support package by Gavi, the global vaccine organisation. The initiative targets key commercial barriers in African vaccine manufacturing, including limited demand visibility and weak investor confidence.
The initiative aims to create a more stable market while reducing Africa’s reliance on strained global vaccine supply chains during health emergencies. Africa currently imports 99% of its vaccines.
The procurement volumes proposed by Gavi may not, however, sustain multiple African vaccine manufacturers if imported vaccines remain cheaper and demand stays limited.
Our take: Gavi’s procurement initiative helps solve the immediate demand problem facing emerging vaccine manufacturers, but the market will ultimately need to sustain itself to ensure long-term vaccine access across the continent…Read more (2 min)
Digital health has attracted investment in Africa over the past decade, yet health outcomes have not improved at the same pace. In this op-ed, Mike Adeyemi-Lawal, an infectious diseases specialist, examines why digital transformation in health systems is stalling despite the rapid expansion of tools such as electronic records and AI diagnostics.
“Digital health is not fundamentally a technology problem. Technology alone does not transform health systems. People, institutions and policies do,” says Lawal.
He argues that many digital health initiatives remain trapped in fragmented, donor-driven pilots that fail to scale sustainably. According to him, digital health solutions must align with national priorities.
Read the full opinion…Read more (2 min)
We have surveyed a new wave of medical technologies using artificial intelligence. One AI platform now allows African scientists to accelerate malaria drug discovery using advanced tools previously out of reach. Developed by Medicines for Malaria Venture and Deepmirror, the Drug Design for Global Health tool also supports TB research.
There are two additional tools in this month’s technology tracker. MiniDock MTB is a portable TB diagnostic kit that can detect the disease in under 30 minutes without requiring sputum while Smart Drone Technology identifies and eliminates mosquito breeding sites.
The technology tracker highlights technologies in infectious disease control, climate-health, vaccination, nutrition and last-mile delivery. All the three featured tech this month are AI-powered.
Our take: AI-powered technologies are automating response systems for infectious diseases across the continent…Read more (2 min)
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Kenya secures $100 million global fund grant to boost HIV, TB and malaria fight
Events
🗓️ Participate in the 79th World Health Assembly in Switzerland (May 21)
🗓️ Join the 10th Healthcare Innovation Summit Africa in SA (May 27)
🗓️ Attend the International Conference on Public Health in Africa in Ethiopia (Nov 23)
Jobs
🧑⚕️Be a Medical Safety Director at IQVIA (South Africa)
🧑⚕️Apply to be the Research Coordinator at Partners In Health (Rwanda)
🧑⚕️Join Julayo Medical as a Medical Director (Nigeria)
Various
💉WHO declares Ebola outbreak in DRC an international emergency
💉 The US Government commits to deploying 30 million malaria repellents in Africa
💉 South Africa sets launch date for HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir rollout
Seen on LinkedIn
Ethiopis Tafara, Vice President for Africa at International Finance Corporation, says, “Expanding local production of medicines is about health resilience. But it is also about building the systems that make resilience durable: regulators that can certify quality, procurement systems that create credible demand, logistics networks that deliver reliably and manufacturing platforms that can compete.”