By Derrick Bangura.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), has named Nigeria and five other African countries – Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, and Tunisia – as the first to receive the technology needed to manufacture mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid), which is used in the production of COVID-19 vaccines.
Ghebreyesus, who made the announcement at the European Union-African Union conference in Brussels on Friday, stated that all of the countries applied and were chosen as recipients.
The announcement was made in the presence of President Macron, President Ramaphosa, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at a ceremony hosted by the European Council, France, South Africa, and the World Health Organization.
mRNA vaccines differ from conventional vaccines in that they contain a weakened or inactive fragment of the target virus that causes antibodies to be produced.
Instead, these game-changing vaccinations use laboratory engineering mRNA, which tells cells how to make a protein that looks like a portion of a protein found in the virus in question, in this case, COVID-19.
This causes the body to produce antibodies in order to neutralize the foreign protein. The antibodies then stay in the body to fight future COVID-19 infections. COVID vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are made with this technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ghebreyesus, demonstrated that relying on a few firms to offer global public goods was both restrictive and harmful.
With the addition of Nigeria to the four countries earlier approved for the vaccine production on the continent, efforts by the Buhari administration to change the selection that the country considered unrepresentative of the needs, capabilities and population distribution in Africa has thus yielded the desired result.
President Buhari has since welcomed the development.
In his contribution at the Roundtable on Health Systems and Vaccine Production at the ongoing 6th Europe-Africa Summit in Brussels, Belgium yesterday, Buhari called for a closer collaboration with the EU to tackle the effects of the pandemic on the African continent.
He expressed delight at receiving the news of the selection of Nigeria among recipients of mRNA Vaccine technology transfer.
Buhari said: “We shall ensure the best use is made of the opportunity. Nigeria also offers to host the Bio-manufacturing Training hub proposed by World Health Organisation (WHO). We commit to providing support to make the hub functional in the shortest possible time.”
While commending the efforts of the foreign partners in making the Covid-19 vaccine available, he urged them to do more as less than 10 per cent of the African population had gotten the jab, stressing that this situation could negatively affect Africa’s developmental projections.
“In the mid- to long-term, the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need, with equitable access as their primary endpoint,” Buhari said.
Responding to the announcement, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa said: “This is an initiative that will allow us to make our own vaccines and that, to us, is very important. It means mutual respect, mutual recognition of what we can all bring to the party, investment in our economies, infrastructure investment and, in many ways, giving back to the continent.”
The global mRNA technology transfer hub was established in 2021 to support manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines, ensuring that they have all the necessary operating procedures and know-how to manufacture mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards.
Also, French President, Emmanuel Macron said: “Improved public health benefits, supporting African health sovereignty and economic development are the principal goals of strengthening local production in Africa. In an interconnected world, we need stronger and new partnerships between countries, development partners and other stakeholders to empower regions and countries to fend for themselves, during crises, and in peacetime.”
On his part, President of the European Council, Charles Michel said the world needed to create an environment where every scientist, health worker, and government can band together for a common cause by working together “to build new solutions to protect what is most precious – our health and our lives.” He said the initiative will ensure that all countries build the necessary capacity to produce their own vaccines and other health technologies.
The WHO mRNA technology transfer hub is part of a bigger initiative to help low- and middle-income nations create their own vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics in order to respond to health emergencies and achieve universal health coverage.