SHARM EL SHEIKH (CMC):
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley on Tuesday announced a new initiative involving the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa to develop and manufacture pharmaceuticals for global public health.
“Today is a truly historic moment as with a great sense of urgency and understanding, South-South Cooperation rose to the fore to address matters of global public health,” Mottley said.
According to a statement, Mottley, along with Guyana President Dr Irfaan Ali, and President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame met on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) to discuss the furthering of pharmaceutical equity for global public health with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The key recommendation emanating from the meeting is an inter-governmental South-South cooperation initiative aiming at the development and manufacturing of 60 per cent of all essential, contemporary pharmaceuticals for the populations of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa within their respective continents by 2040,” the statement said.
It said, initially, it is intended for the cooperation to focus on next-generation oncological drugs, and preventive and therapeutic vaccines, as well as on modalities for women’s health. It is also stipulated that all manufacturing sites related to this endeavour will be in full compliance with the relevant stipulations of the COP21 Paris Agreement.
“I want to dearly thank President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President Paul Kagame and President von der Leyen for recognising the importance of this venture and congratulate all stakeholders who have been instrumental in developing this pharmaceutical transatlantic bridge between Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Mottley.
Ali said he was “honoured to be a part of this groundbreaking initiative that is a testimony to true South-South cooperation.
“From the outset, I congratulate my colleague Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, for stewarding this cause and to His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, for his role in advancing this partnership that would provide the opportunity for the people of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean to have access to pharmaceuticals developed within their own regions,” Ali added.
Kagame said: “The progress we have made towards pharmaceutical equity in Africa is a result of partnership both within our continent, and beyond.
“We would like to see more of this kind of practical cooperation between the Caribbean and Africa, and look forward to supporting this endeavour.”
President von der Leyen of the European Commission said health is a top priority for citizens, wherever they live.
“The EU is committed to supporting our African and Latin American and Caribbean partners in boosting their own capacity to produce vaccines, medicines, and health technologies. This will increase the resilience of their health systems and contribute to economic growth.
“Thanks to close cooperation between all the necessary actors, the public authorities, the scientific community and the private sector, we will get there quicker.”
The WHO director-general said one of the most important lessons of the pandemic is that manufacturing capacity for medicines, diagnostics vaccines and other tools is concentrated in too few countries.
“At the World Health Assembly last year, WHO member states approved a resolution for strengthening local production of medicines and other health technologies. International networks can play a crucial role in expanding local production, such as this new partnership between Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa.
“I welcome today’s communiqué, which emphasises the importance of expanding not only manufacturing capacity but also regulatory capacity, with technical expertise and the trust of communities. I’m also pleased to see the commitment in the communiqué to establishing new manufacturing capacity with a strict net zero emissions rule,” the WHO director-general added.
A globally recognised leader in reproductive health and rights and a lifelong gender champion, Professor Dr Senait Fisseha, said the Caribbean and Latin America can learn from the tremendous progress African countries have made on vaccine manufacturing in the past two years.