Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa: Education is the Key
Africa constitutes 25% of global vaccine demand but currently only supplies 1% of the 1.3 billion vaccines needed annually. Mastercard Foundation’s Dr Reeta Roy weighs in on why developing human capital is key to changing this.
At the recently-held conference, ‘Expanding Africa’s Vaccine Manufacturing for Health and Security’, organised by the African Union and Africa CDC, President and CEO of Mastercard Foundation, Dr Reeta Roy, gave her thoughts about how developing talent and human capital are key ingredients required to create a vibrant sector.
According to Roy, in order to create an enabling environment, African nations must take into consideration the entire value chain; research and development, clinical trials, new technology, manufacturing, logistics and distribution. Roy also spoke about why developing talent through partnerships between industry and academia are crucial for vaccine manufacturing in Africa; “What we find in many environments is that there needs to be greater integration between the providers of education with the industry that requires the supply that’s coming from education.”
