PM Mottley pushes for transatlantic bridge between Caribbean, Latin America & Africa to develop & manufacture pharmaceuticals

Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, and President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, during a virtual meeting on the sidelines of COP27, which is being held in Egypt, discussed the furthering of pharmaceutical equity for global public health with President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The key recommendation emanating from the meeting is an inter-governmental South-South cooperation initiative aimed at the development and manufacture of 60 per cent of all essential contemporary pharmaceuticals for the populations of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa within their respective continents by 2040.
It is intended for the cooperation to initially focus on next-generation oncological drugs and preventive and therapeutic vaccines, as well as on modalities for women’s health. It is also stipulated that all manufacturing sites related to this endeavour would be in full compliance with the relevant stipulations of the COP21 Paris Agreement.

The leaders of the countries and organizations which have launched this initiative have emphasized that all interested countries in the Caribbean, Latin American and African regions are invited to join.
Prime Minister Mottley, during the meeting, related that it is a truly historic moment, as, with a great sense of urgency and understanding, South-South Cooperation rose to the fore to address matters of global public health.

“I want to dearly thank President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President Paul Kagame, and President von der Leyen for recognising the importance of this venture, and congratulate all stakeholders who have been instrumental in developing this pharmaceutical transatlantic bridge between Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean,” she added.

President Ali has said he is honoured to be part of this groundbreaking initiative, which is indeed a testimony to true South-South cooperation. He related that, from the outset, he congratulated his colleague Mia Amor Mottley for stewarding this cause, and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda for his role in advancing this partnership, which would provide the opportunity for the peoples of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean to have access to pharmaceuticals developed within their own regions.
Further, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, posited that health is a top priority for citizens wherever they live, and, as such, the EU is committed to supporting its African and Latin American and Caribbean partners in boosting their own capacities to produce vaccines, medicines, and health technologies.

“This will increase the resilience of their health systems, and contribute to economic growth. Thanks to close cooperation between all the necessary actors: the public authorities, the scientific community and the Private Sector, we will get there quicker”.
President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, has said the progress made towards pharmaceutical equity in Africa is a result of the partnerships both within the continent and beyond.
“We would like to see more of this kind of practical cooperation between the Caribbean and Africa, and look forward to supporting this endeavour,” he disclosed.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explained that one of the most important lessons of the pandemic is that manufacturing capacity for medicines, diagnostics, vaccines and other tools is concentrated in too few countries.
“At the World Health Assembly last year, WHO Member States approved a resolution for strengthening local production of medicines and other health technologies,” he disclosed. “International networks can play a crucial role in expanding local production, such as this new partnership between Latin American and the Caribbean and Africa. I welcome today’s communiqué, which emphasises the importance of expanding not only manufacturing capacity, but also regulatory capacity, with technical expertise and the trust of communities. I’m also pleased to see the commitment in the communiqué to establishing new manufacturing capacity with a strict net zero emissions’ rule,” he added.
Meanwhile, Prof Dr Senait Fisseha has said the Caribbean and Latin America can learn from the tremendous progress African countries have made in vaccine manufacturing in the past two years. She also noted that African countries can learn from the innovative ecosystem LAC countries have created around commodities such as pooled procurement mechanisms as well as the Revolving Fund for vaccines.
“Today we had the opportunity to consider how we can expand these efforts beyond vaccines and oncology into areas like reproductive health. We all face common challenges in reproductive health – teenage pregnancy, maternal mortality and morbidity, and unsafe abortion, among other things; and, like with vaccines, we currently rely heavily on imported medicines and commodities, putting our supply security at risk.”
The ceremony was witnessed by Acting Director Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma of Africa CDC, President Dr Werner Hoyer of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and KENUP Foundation Chairman Holm Keller.