The COVID-19 pandemic exposed longstanding inequities in health technology research and development (R&D) and access that undermine effective national, regional, and global public health responses. This was most acute in African countries, where only 28% of people were fully vaccinated by December 2022 compared to 75% in high-income countries. More broadly, only 1% of all vaccines administered are produced locally and only 4% of clinical trials globally are hosted in Africa.
Efforts are strengthening localised vaccine R&D and manufacturing, including through the Afrigen mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub and African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator. Vaccine R&D against emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) like Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa represent opportunities to further bolster expertise, trial capacity, and access in endemic regions. Recent outbreaks, including of Marburg in Tanzania and Rwanda and Ebola Sudan virus in Uganda, underscore the threat EIDs pose to national and global health security.
Investments in regional vaccine R&D and commercialisation are a critical enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals (including SDGs 3.b, 17.6, and 17.8) relating to health, innovation, and international cooperation. Diversified and coordinated domestic, bilateral, and multilateral investments in support of a One Health approach can deliver significant public health and economic returns. These include developing health technologies for local contexts; establishing sustainable, localised vaccine manufacturing; expanding health industries; creating jobs; shoring up resilient health and surveillance systems; and facilitating knowledge sharing, including of platform-based vaccine technologies.
In this brief, we outline how investments in vaccine R&D and commercialisation advance integrated regional health technology ecosystems. Using EIDs as a case study, we demonstrate how these investments contribute to robust pandemic preparedness and response to address existing and future disease threats exacerbated by the climate crisis. Further, we will highlight key North–South, South–South, and triangular regional and international partnerships to scale up this effort. This is a timely opportunity to support regional vaccine priorities, including of institutes like Africa CDC, and global priorities outlined in the Indonesian, Indian, and Brazilian G20 health ministers’ declarations, as well as in the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
