PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron and African leaders have partnered on an approximately $1-billion project to make vaccines more available in Africa following the COVID-19 pandemic revealed global inequity in vaccine access, western media reported on Friday.
The project, known as the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, will give financial incentives to vaccine producers. The project comes following African leaders and advocates stated the continent was overlooked in terms of testing materials, treatments and vaccines during the early months of COVID-19.
According to the Vaccine Alliance known as Gavi— a public-private partnership that supplies vaccines to developing countries — the project plans to accelerate Africa’s manufacturing capacity, develop more activity in vaccine markets worldwide, and improve preparedness for pandemics.
Macron said that about 75% of the funding will come from Europe. France will also contribute $100 million. Other donors include the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, the United States, Japan, Norway, and the Gates Foundation.
As per media reports, only 2% of vaccines in Africa are made on the continent. The African Union also wants to increase that percentage to 60% by 2040.
The World Health Organization, along with others, hopes to see Africa better prepared for the next pandemic. The WHO recently tried to develop a “pandemic treaty” devised to improve pandemic preparedness.
