COVID-19: South Africa seeks Africa’s support to produce vaccines
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has asked African leaders to back his country’s request to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a temporary waiver of some Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in order for the country to develop vaccines.
He said the proposal to secure access to the Covid-19 vaccination and treatment as a vital component of the continent’s recovery from the pandemic’s devastation was co-sponsored by South Africa and India, and that it was critical for African leaders to support the bid.
“As African countries, we should rally together behind this proposal as many have because the fastest and most effective way to vaccinate our populations is if we are allowed to manufacture our own vaccines and at the same time build our own manufacturing capabilities.
President Ramaphosa added that African leaders “have to adopt strategies for a resilient recovery, and one of the best ways of doing so is if we manufacture our own vaccines.
“And this is where we will go beyond President Akufo-Addo’s proposal that Africa stops being recipients of aid. We should actually rely on our capabilities as Africans. And it is precisely for this reason that we have raised this issue that manufacturing of vaccines should be based on the African continent”
This, he said, would enable prompt access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatment, which was important to reducing the pandemic’s negative economic impact on Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement at the Ghana-South Africa Business Forum in Accra on Sunday, saying that the sooner vaccines are produced on the continent, the better for Africa’s economic recovery.
He added that despite the fact that over 220 million vaccine doses have been administered throughout Africa, only 6.7% of the population has been properly vaccinated.
“This is simply not acceptable and it is also not enough if we are to revive and rebuild our economies that have been made fragile by covid-19. Equitable access to vaccines is clearly the best way to mitigate the economic, social and health consequences of the pandemic.
The South Africa President said with some 1.3 billion Africans still unvaccinated, it was critical that vaccines were manufactured on the continent and not imported from elsewhere, “to ensure economic sustainability and faster industrialization of our respective economies”.
The task according to president Ramaphosa “that lies before us is to actively seek out trade and investment opportunities beyond our borders, not in Europe, not in Asia or the Americas, but with our own neighbours and on our own continent”
“We have already seen progress in the South African pharmaceuticals sector, which has commenced with the local production of vaccines. We have observed the same trends here in Ghana as local businesses switched to the production of personal protective equipment.
“South Africa and Ghana, and a few other countries on the continent are primed, ready and will have the capability of manufacturing the vaccines that our continent needs. And it is for this reason that the WTO should put the waiver into effect so that we must get on with the task of protecting the health of our people on our continent and ourselves as Africans and not be reliant on some people in Europe and in America who tend to look after their own interest before they look after the interest of others”, president Ramaphosa stressed.
President Akufo-Addo, who has been a leading advocate for vaccine manufacturing on the continent, said it was time for Africa to look within for solutions to its developmental problems.
“It’s one that you have our great backing,” he said, referring to the South African President’s push for domestic vaccine production.
In an era of pandemics, the President said it was critical that the continent build local capacity and not become reliant on “those who hoard vaccines when the world needs them.”
Ghana, he noted, had begun the process of developing its own vaccines, beginning with the formation of a national vaccine institute to lead the way.
“We are in full support of the position you have taken and we are hoping that we can work together in these areas for the future.
“Let’s seize the opportunity. Let us continue to work together in synergy…there is an atmosphere of trust and solidarity amongst us because it is that which would enable us to succeed in what we’re doing”, President Akufo-Addo stressed.
Source: Richard Mensah Adonu | Join our Telegram Group
