Your Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema,
Honourable Minister Elijah Muchima,
Honourable Ministers of Angola and Burkina Faso,
Honourable Ministers, Heads of Delegation,
Our Regional Director Professor Janabi,
Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya,
Director-General Dr Delese Darko,
GAVI CEO Dr Sania Nishtar,
Dear colleagues and friends,
First of all I would like to join my brother Jean Kaseya in thanking His Excellency the President and his government for the recognition yesterday, the Order of the Eagle of Zambia, third division.
Thank you so much, and I accept it wholeheartedly on behalf of my colleagues at WHO, who are working hard day and night. You have seen it during COVID, and the hard work continues. I accept it based on my colleagues, and thank you so much for that recognition.
Your Excellency, I would like to use also this opportunity to thank you for joining us again today. This shows the great commitment that you have to health, which doesn’t actually happen very often. We cherish that. H
Health is central and that’s what you’re showing. So thank you for that, Your Excellency, and please accept my deep respect and appreciation.
In my opening remarks yesterday, I spoke about the opportunity for Africa to chart a new path of sustainable self-reliance.
A key part of that journey is self-reliance in production of medical products.
One of the most important lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic was that the concentration of manufacturing in just a handful of countries led to deep inequities in access to vaccines and other health products.
This has been underscored by outbreaks of mpox, Ebola and Marburg virus disease, as well as the continuing prevalence of ancient diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.
The situation has been further compounded by the drastic disruptions and cuts in the global health landscape.
In the face of these challenges, it is clear that expanding national and regional production is essential for strengthening epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response.
Recognizing these challenges, the new Pandemic Agreement drafted and adopted by WHO Member States includes an entire article on sustainable and geographically diversified local production, and another article on transfer of technology and know-how for the production of pandemic-related health products.
The Pandemic Agreement is just the latest step. In fact, WHO has been working for many years on strengthening local production, using an ecosystem-wide approach.
In 2021, we launched the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, which is now sharing technology from its base in South Africa with a network of 15 partner countries globally.
And in 2023 we established the WHO Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Initiative, including a Global Training Hub in the Republic of Korea, which has helped to train over 7,000 participants globally so far.
A another key element of WHO’s work is assessing and strengthening national regulatory authorities, using the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool, which addresses nine key regulatory functions.
So far, eight national regulators on the continent have reached Maturity level 3: Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Several other countries continue to build their regulatory and ethics capacities.
WHO has also supported the operationalization of the African Medicines Agency, which is a game changer for our continent. Continental capacity is very important, and we will continue to support it.
Together with our partners, WHO is committed to supporting the region to develop its regulatory and manufacturing capacities, providing technical expertise and effective coordination.
Of course, WHO cannot do it alone. It takes strong partnership, including with Gavi.
Since Gavi was founded in 2000, under-five mortality globally has dropped by more than half, and Africa has been the biggest beneficiary.
So I was very encouraged that at Gavi’s replenishment in July, donors pledged more than US$ 9 billion to support its work over the next five years.
In addition, Gavi-implementing countries are investing a record US$ 4 billion in their national immunization programmes over the next five years.
We also welcome the launch last year of Gavi’s African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, and the African Export-Import Bank’s pledge of US$ 2 billion to support African health product manufacturing.
All of these efforts are aimed at supporting national initiatives to strengthen local production.
It’s especially important that in Africa, we produce medicines and vaccines for diseases that afflict our populations, but which do not always attract investment from companies outside Africa.
So I’m very pleased to welcome His Excellency the President’s initiative to establish a cholera vaccine production facility here in Zambia, in line with his leadership as a global cholera control champion.
As you all know, global production of cholera vaccines is insufficient, and it’s here in Africa that the need for those vaccines is greatest.
WHO looks forward to supporting Zambia to make this project a success.
Your Excellency, thank you. This is truly inspirational leadership.
Your Excellency, colleagues and ministers, the right to health means the right to equitable access to essential medicines, vaccines, and other lifesaving products.
Local production is about realizing that right.
Thank you all for your dedication and commitment to equitable access, and to a healthier, safer, fairer African, and fairer world for all people.
I thank you.