The newly established African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation (APTF) will be instrumental in propelling Africa towards the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals the African Development Bank has said.
African Development Bank Senior Advisor on pharmaceuticals and health, Professor Padmashree Gehl Sampath, shared this bold belief on Monday during a presentation on the APTF ahead of a panel discussion on the first day of the 2023 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank in Sharm El-Sheikh.
She emphasised the APTF’s objective of fostering regional pharmaceutical production and innovation capabilities, explaining that it aimed not only to augment industrial development and shape robust health policies but also to strengthen regional health security.
She said as an independent institution, the APTF would enhance Africa’s access to the technologies for manufacturing medicines, vaccines, and other pharmaceutical products.
African Development Bank President Adesina initiated the Foundation in response to vaccine shortage in Africa at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, realising that the continent needed to boost its level of preparedness. Gehl Sampath said the APTF aspired to provide “a fair contribution to the global response against pandemics and epidemics,” thus reflecting a cooperative and inclusive approach.
In their contributions, panel members expressed strong support for the Foundation. Panellists included Egypt’s minister for International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat, Germany’s governor to the African Development Bank and parliamentary state secretary, Dr Bärbel Kofler, senior advisor on pharmaceuticals and health, Professor Padmashree Gehl Sampath, African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases director, Professor Christian Happi, and acting managing director of European Investment Bank Global, Dr Markus Berndt.
Minister Al-Mashat noted that health security was “as important as food security.” “The more we invest, the closer we are going to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.” Dr Kofler said it was important to learn from past mistakes and prepare for the inevitable. “The next pandemic will come—the question is not if but when,” she said. For Dr Kofler, pharmaceuticals are ineffective “unless you go the last mile and reach the people on the ground,” and expected the APTF to help do just that.
Alluding to the fact that Africa largely depended on the Global North for its health security, Professor Happi wondered, “Why haven’t we gone beyond what we do?” He argued that research and development should be integrated into the African thinking process. “We must go from knowledge consumers into knowledge producers. This is where I believe that the APTF is very critical,” he added.
Dr Berndt, who joined the discussion via video link, commended the African Development Bank for setting up the APTF, and said long-term health security was key to economic growth. “We share the same objectives and think very much alike,” he said, adding that “together, we can design projects that are both competitive and viable.”
In his welcome remarks, President Adesina underscored the stark realities revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic. “At the start of the pandemic, Africa had no capacity to test against the virus and no capacity to produce basic things such as personnel protective equipment. There was zero capacity to manufacture vaccines.”
Adesina highlighted the inequality in vaccine access, noting, “While the rest of the developed world was having access to second and third doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, over one billion plus people in Africa had no access to a basic first dose.”
Adesina said the APTF represented a collective commitment towards self-sufficiency in the pharmaceutical sector. “The Foundation is a pledge—a pledge that our continent will have access to the technologies it needs to produce its own medicines, vaccines, and other pharmaceutical products,” the Bank Chief said.
The five-day Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank began on Monday, 22 May 2023, under the theme “Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.” The event brings together delegations from 81 member countries.
