WHO Director-General: African countries like Egypt able to produce vaccines, biologics at scale

CAIRO – 16 April 2022: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that AfricaN countries like Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia will be able to produce vaccines and biologics at scale.

In his remarks at the Briefing to the African Union Ambassadors in Geneva on Strengthening Local Manufacturing Capacity on Thursday, Director-General said that he was impressed by the capacity of this public-private partnership and confident that the countries of Africa will be able to produce vaccines and biologics at scale.

In February 2022, the WHO Director-General announced that six African countries including Egyptian Tunisia would receive “mRNA” technology to produce vaccines against the Coronavirus locally.

“The global mRNA technology transfer hub was established in 2021 to support manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines, ensuring that they have all the necessary operating procedures and know-how to manufacture mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards,” the WHO said.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi expressed his appreciation for Egypt being selected to be among the countries of the African continent that will receive the support to obtain the mRNA technology used in the manufacturing of vaccines and other important medical drugs to confront many incurable diseases.

President Sisi’s appreciation was voiced in his speech at the WHO Session on Vaccine Technology and Health Systems, on the sidelines of the EU-AU summit in Brussels in February.

Meanwhile, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday, April14, 2022, that Egypt, along with Japan and Thailand joined an under-preparation Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to negotiate “a WHO convention, agreement or other international instruments to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.”

He added that the outcomes of the INB which was formed by the World Health Assembly in December 2021 would be submitted to the assembly 2024.