An inaugural steering committee meeting has been held to discuss the strategic implementation of a four-year project to strengthen the country’s pharmaceutical production sector.

The Strengthening Ghanaian Pharmaceutical Sector focuses on Vaccine Production” (PharmaVax) to create access to affordable high-quality vaccines and medicines in the country.

Last Thursday’s event brought together major stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Food and Drugs Authority, the National Vaccines Institute, private sector associations and research institutions, among others, to plan and strategise and provide relevant recommendations to ensure the implementation of the programme.

The programme, which is co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German government, formed part of a special measure of the Team Europe Initiative on Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies in Africa (MAV+).

Self-reliance

The Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly, addressing the meeting, stated that the initiative was a commitment to helping Ghana strengthen its health systems, enhance local capacities and contribute to global equity in medicines and vaccines; thus, becoming a regional hub for vaccine and pharmaceutical production.

“MAV+ is a direct response to the calls from African leaders, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, for greater self-reliance after the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

“Announced in 2022, it unites European and African leaders to strengthen supply, boost demand and foster an enabling environment for the success of pharmaceutical production,” he explained.

Additionally, the EU Ambassador to Ghana highlighted the project’s significance as a continuation of the strong partnership between Team Europe and Ghana, noting that four years ago, during the peak of the global pandemic, the European Union played a key role in supplying Ghana with its first 600,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX facility.

“Getting vaccines is good but producing them is even better! That is why Team Europe has launched the MAV+ initiative in Africa to promote local manufacturing of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. PharmaVax embodies this ambition in Ghana,” he said.

He, therefore, encouraged like-minded stakeholders to work together to ensure the programme’s success.

“The success of PharmaVax depends on strong partnerships. Team Europe is proud to stand with Ghana’s government, the private sector and academia to create a resilient, self-reliant ecosystem. Bring your expertise and vision so we can achieve extraordinary outcomes,” he urged.

Progress

Mr Razaaly indicated that Ghana had made great progress in becoming a vaccine manufacturing hub through initiatives such as the roadmap for vaccine development, the National Vaccine Policy and a €3 million project to strengthen the FDA regulatory capacity for overseeing vaccine manufacturing.

However, he said there were still challenges, which included achieving World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, building marketing trust and transitioning from GAVI’s, an organisation that helped to improve access to vaccines worldwide support by 2029.

For her part, the Head of Development Cooperation of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Accra, Franziska Jebens, said the PharmaVax initiative was a significant milestone to strengthen Ghana’s health security and reduce the country’s over-dependence on imported vaccines and other foreign health commodities.