14 Dec 2022

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has reiterated Botswana’s determination to attain health system resilience and security through development of national capacity for pharmaceutical production.

Botswana was intentional on becoming a vaccine, medicine and other health-care products manufacturing nation, he said during a Partnering for Sustainable Health Cooperation and Health Security session at the ongoing US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC.

That way, he said, the country would contribute to global equity in the production and distribution of some categories of medical drugs.

In addition, Botswana would be able to mitigate the dire consequences of drug shortages the country was currently experiencing, said Dr Masisi.

The President said Botswana strongly supported the establishment and strengthening of medicine production on the African continent.

He said low levels of vaccine and medicine production in Africa undermined the continent’s health related Sustainable Development Goals.

With Africa’s huge human resource potential, he said, the  continent needed capacitation and support with appropriate skills and technology as well as in the area of research and development.

“We have capacity, including human capital and research institutions which could be scaled up with the support and collaboration of our development partners. For instance, as you are aware, scientists in Botswana and our neighbour South Africa were the first to isolate and sequence the COVID-19 variant that became known as Omicron,” he said.

President Masisi said financing and sharing of intellectual property and know-how was equally important given that WTO’s waiver on intellectual property waiver.

He expressed pleasure that building manufacturing industries for vaccines and other medical countermeasures was prioritised for cooperation between Africa and the US.

Africa could benefit from the  US’ advanced pharmaceutical industry, he said emphasising that partnerships were crucial and central to achieving the common agenda of global health security.

He cited Botswana’s partnership with the US’ NantWorks company  to establish a vaccine manufacturing facility in Botswana for the production of not only COVID-19 vaccines but also cancer treatment drugs and next generation cell-based immunotherapy.

“We believe in partnerships at all levels, from the community to the international level, employing a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” he said.

President Masisi said Botswana was following with great interest developments related to the recent launching of the Financial Intermediary Fund.

Thanking the US for its role in the fund’s establishment, the President said it would provide critical investments to strengthen pandemic preparedness and response capacities at national, regional and global levels with a focus on low and middle-income countries.

Meanwhile, US Secretary for Health and Human Services, Dr Xavier Becerra has stated that America was committed to engendering strong and inclusive health systems in Africa for effective response to new and ongoing health challenges.

He said America would to that end partner with African governments and institutions including the African Union (AU) and Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr Becera revealed that the US would team up with WHO, AU and Africa Centre For Disease Control to build infrastructure for better global health outcomes.

“I am confident that with your help, our teams of architecture will continue to build stronger services for future generation,” he said. BOPA