Establishment of an African foundation for pharmaceutical technology: the AfDB in the front line
During the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) closed on May 26, a side event caught the attention of observers: the establishment of an African foundation for pharmaceutical technology initiated by the AfDB. This initiative will be effective from July and aims to strengthen domestic training, access to technologies to deal with future pandemics, to encourage regional production, to support innovation capacities, as well as to develop regional security policies.
Several high-level speakers, including AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, and AfDB Senior Advisor, Padmashree Gehl Sampath, explained the importance of this initiative. According to Dr Adesina, the production of vaccines and the detection of the virus were the main problems faced by Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic. The African Foundation for Pharmaceutical Technology is intended to provide access to technology to produce drugs, vaccines, and other pharmaceutical products in Africa.
For her part, Padmashree Gehl Sampath pointed out that the initiative is rooted in the will of governments and is a platform to catalyze technologies. She added that the APTF will be able to contribute as a response to epidemics and pandemics through a cooperative and inclusive approach.
The Minister of International Cooperation of Egypt, Ms. Rania Al Mashat, for her part, highlighted the importance of investing in health security to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Among the other speakers, Ms. Barbel Kofler, from the Federal Republic of Germany, stressed the need to learn from the lessons of the past in order to better prepare for the future.
The initiative launched by the AfDB was also welcomed by the Director of the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Professor Christian Happi, who called on the bank to be a real catalyst in the field of health in Africa. . However, he highlighted the low local production capacity and the non-availability of drugs. According to him, incentives for pharmaceutical companies, the construction of regional production in the pharmaceutical sector, flexibility to develop the value chain, technological partnerships, quality control and compliance with standards as well as the mobilization of resources are needed to make this initiative successful.
In sum, the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation is a commendable AfDB initiative to build the capacity of African countries in pharmaceutical production and epidemic control.. However, it will face significant challenges, including low local production capacity and unavailability of drugs.