The challenges of vaccine development in Africa and South-South cooperation for health sovereignty were the focus of two panels held Saturday in Dakhla, on the sidelines of the launch of the African Academy of Health Sciences (AAHS).
During the first panel, moderated by the president of Mohammed VI University of Science and Health, Mohamed Adnaoui, the speakers highlighted the efforts made in vaccination across Africa, as well as the numerous challenges, ranging from logistical and infrastructural difficulties to socio-economic and political factors.
The panelists advocated for strengthening vaccine production capacities in Africa to reduce reliance on imports, urging the combined efforts of governments, international organizations, and local communities to build resilient and equitable vaccination systems across the continent.
On this occasion, renowned Moroccan researcher Moncef Slaoui stressed the need to develop vaccines in sub-Saharan countries and to establish technological platforms for this purpose.
Prof. Slaoui called for pharmacovigilance systems to be strengthened, noting that the African scientific community would need to train biologists capable of producing vaccines themselves, with a view to discovering new ones in Morocco and Africa.
Zambia’s Special Advisor to the President on Health, Roma Chilengu, stressed the importance of developing medical technologies in Africa and establishing a regulatory framework and health protocols in this area.
In this context, Chilengu emphasized the imperative of training the youth, setting up African vaccine markets, and developing the pharmaceutical industry to address the vaccine issue.
Meanwhile, Tomane Balde, coordinator of the COVID-19 Fund Management Unit (Guinea-Bissau), praised HM King Mohammed VI’s initiative to support several African countries through the different phases of the pandemic response.
He also called for creating a pan-African coordination and planning platform to better address pandemics, noting that Africa needs to build its own infrastructure, develop its own vaccines, and share them with other countries.
Former Minister of Health in Gambia, Yankuba Kassama, highlighted the challenges of vaccine awareness and the need for better coordination of health policies across African governments.
In this respect, he called for strengthening health systems, improving infrastructure, and enhancing the quality of health worker training, and encouraged the use of Morocco’s experience in the health field.
As per the second panel moderated by former Minister of Health Anas Doukkali, the speakers discussed South-South cooperation for health sovereignty.
Mohamed Methqal, Ambassador, General Director of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI) highlighted Morocco’s key actions , under the enlightened leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, regarding South-South cooperation for health sovereignty.
Methqal recalled that the AMCI had signed a partnership agreement with the African Academy of Health Sciences to support the development of the latter across the continent.
In this regard, academic scholarships will be provided to students from sub-Saharan Africa wishing to undertake various training programs, whether short-term or degree courses, he added.
For his part, former Comorian Minister of foreign affairs Said Ibrahim Fahmi, noted Morocco’s strong commitment to the principle of solidarity in protecting the African continent and contributing to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also emphasized that creating this Academy will be an extraordinary stepping stone to provide solutions to health issues on the continent.
At the end of the second panel, the creation of the African Academy of Health Sciences was officially announced, with its headquarters in Dakhla, and Prof. Lahcen Belyamani, President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Science and Health, was appointed as its president.
The members of the Academy’s Council were also designated, representing Morocco, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Zambia, Senegal, Central African Republic, Chad, Malawi, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Niger, Uganda, Mali, and Madagascar. They will be tasked with developing a roadmap for the Academy.
Additionally, participants visited the construction site of the future headquarters of the African Academy of Health Sciences.
