Africa CDC hopes to rethink Africa’s epidemic response strategy

With the emergence of COVID-19, the vulnerability of the global health crisis has been exposed. Africa has recorded more than 12 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nearly 250,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Monkeypox was previously confined to a few remote areas. Nearly 17,541 cases again The World Health Organization once again said that since the beginning of 2024, 13 African countries have reported 2,863 confirmed cases and 517 deaths.

These epidemics highlight the urgent need for a strong and independent pharmaceutical industry in Africa. Indeed, African leaders must consider the development of a local pharmaceutical industry, otherwise there will be a reduction in Eliminating Africa’s reliance on imported medicines.

The Africa CDC, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, is an autonomous continental health agency of the African Union. Its purpose is to support public health initiatives in African countries and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to effectively manage disease threats. The Africa CDC has stated that the goal is for 60% of the vaccines used in Africa to be produced on the continent by 2040. Hala Audi, CEO of Unizima, the brand of the Univercells Group responsible for deploying its expertise in developing countries, said that in order to achieve this goal, two possible approaches need to be adopted, namely the “so-called traditional approach”, which includes: adopting models that have already proven effective elsewhere and the “so-called leapfrogging approach”, which aims to use innovative technologies such as RNA (ribonucleic acid) to enable Africa to produce vaccines in a faster and more efficient way.

«With RNA, we don’t need to go through fermentation or live cell growth, which greatly simplifies the manufacturing process. » Hala Audi explains that this technology will allow the African continent not only to follow, but also to become a world leader in the production of pharmaceuticals.

However, achieving this vision requires strengthening regulatory frameworks and human capacity. The African Medicines Agency (AMA), incubated by the Africa CDC, is an important and vital initiative to harmonize quality standards across the continent and facilitate large-scale production and distribution of medicines.

Haraodi also claimed that ” The creation of the AMA is crucial to establishing a common market in Africa, similar to the one established in Europe by the European Medicines Agency. » The goal is to stimulate the necessary investment to make this possible Meeting the needs of the African continent and contribute to its economic growth, as the economic and social opportunities in this sector will be a major asset for Africa.

As a result, the continent can not only meet its own demand for vaccines and medicines, but also become an exporter on the international stage.