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WHO Convenes Workshop on Achieving Quality and Sustainable Local Vaccine Production in Africa to Improve Access [1]
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Date: 2023-05
Today marks the opening of the workshop on Achieving Quality and Sustainable Local Vaccine Production in Africa to improve access, organized by the Local Production and Assistance (LPA) Unit, in the Regulation and Prequalification (RPQ) Department, Access to Medicines and Health Products (MHP) Division, with collaboration from the WHO Country Office in Rwanda and Regional Office of Africa, in Kigali from 2-4 May 2023.
Honourable Dr Emile Bienvenu, Director General of the Rwanda FDA, and Dr Brian Clever Chirombo, WHO Representative in Rwanda, opened the workshop, emphasizing the importance of this workshop in strengthening Africa's vaccine production capacity and improving access to vaccines.
Dr Bienvenu said, “This workshop in Africa has come at the right moment as most of countries in the region are committed to strengthen their local production of health products, including vaccines … I would like Rwanda FDA to keep working with WHO, as local production is an effort to be done together.”
Dr Chirombo mentioned: “WHO wants to foster partnerships to keep supporting the collaboration between government, industry, WHO and other partners. I would like to acknowledge the local industry in the region for investing time and resources to work with the government in this workshop.”
WHO’s partners, GAVI, UNICEF, and PAVM, joined the meeting and delivered presentations on their role in supporting local vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa.
The workshop aims to strengthen the production capacity of vaccines in Africa to meet WHO and international standards and achieve sustainability. The workshop will assist governments, regulators, and manufacturers in Africa in strengthening their vaccine production capacity to be of assured quality and sustainable. It will cover a range of topics related to vaccine production, including building conducive local manufacturing ecosystems, understanding and achieving compliance with current WHO norms and standards for vaccines, building an enabling environment for quality assurance and sustainability, and fostering and strengthening partnerships and collaborative action to strengthen vaccine production in Africa.
70 participants – government officials, regulators and vaccine manufacturers – from Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia were in attendance in Kigali. Over 100 attendees from the Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda joined virtually.
For more information, please visit the LPA website.
Contact: Dr Jicui DONG, Unit Head, LPA Unit [email protected], and in copy [email protected]
In the middle front: Honorable Prof. Emile Bienvenu, Director General of the Rwanda FDA, Dr Brian Clever Chirombo, WHO Representative in Rwanda, and Dr Jicui Dong, Unit Head of the Local Production and Assistance Unit, surrounded by participants from 11 African countries.
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[1] Url:
https://www.who.int/news/item/01-05-2023-who-convenes-workshop-on-achieving-quality-and-sustainable-local-vaccine-production-in-africa-to-improve-access
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