(4 minutes read)
· A promise to lift patents to allow Africa produce its own vaccines seems to be the key pledge at the end of the Summit on Financing African economies hosted by France yesterday ( Tuesday May 18)
· The move, experts say, will considerably help the continent on the health front
· Africa’s concern is more borne out of the fact that it has to source the vaccines from other countries, unlike India, which is manufacturing vaccines
A promise to lift patents to allow Africa to produce its own vaccines seems to be the key pledge at the end of the Summit on Financing African economies hosted by France yesterday ( Tuesday May 18). The move, experts say, will considerably help the continent on the health front. Does it convey financial commitment to retire debts as widely expected by a large segment of African countries is on hold?
But, to a great extent, the resolution would help allay the fears among the Africans about the vaccine nationalism as voiced from different quarters. President of the Africa Union, Félix Tshisekedi noted that it (resolution) could counter efforts that have sought to demonize vaccination. There is a nagging fear among the Africans of a second wave as evidenced in some countries like India, which proved to be more sinister than the earlier one. Africa’s concern is more borne out of the fact that it has to source the vaccines from other countries, unlike India, which is manufacturing vaccines. It (India) has also rolled out a massive plan to vaccinate its citizens in a given timeframe to ward off a third wave or another adverse development.
In some African countries, a spurt in the number of cases was noticed in the past and of late also. South Africa has experienced a resemblance of a second wave. Countries like Seychelles have recently witnessed a spurt in numbers of infected persons though the rate of infection was almost zero some weeks ago. This trend has put the continent’s surveillance system under heavy caution, given that health infrastructure in the continent is in its infancy in most of the countries.
While most of the Heads of States in Africa welcomed the decision, French President Emmanuel Macron said it would lead to a very strong initiative to massively produce vaccines in Africa, with funding from the World Bank. In the short term, the participants at the meeting pushed the coverage of Covax (an organization distributing vaccines to poor countries) from 20% to 40% of people to be vaccinated in Africa.
The meeting organized at the instance of French President Macron brought together some thirty African and European leaders, and major international economic giants.
