COVID-19: Ghana To Support African Vaccine Development Initiative - Prez Akufo-Addo's 7th Address

President Nana Akufo-Addo has indicated that the Government of Ghana will partner health Professionals in Africa to manufacture vaccines to curb viral diseases in Africa.

According to the President, the COVID-19 epidemic has been a wake-up call for the entire African continent and therefore there is the need for the establishment of a framework to support African vaccine manufacturing initiative.

President Akufo-Addo in his nation address on Sunday, April 19, 2020 provided an update on the COVID-19.

He commended the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research and other research centers for doing a good job in testing and also providing adequate data on the virus mutations to help with vaccination.

''The enhancement of our capacity to test has been made possible by the dedication of the expanded teams at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research and the National Public Health Reference Laboratory'', he said.

The President noted the ''need to establish the enabling framework for sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa'', hence calling on African leaders to ''advance African-led partnerships to drive scientific innovations for the control of viral diseases by vaccination. Ghana, recognising this critical public health tool, will support the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative, which is chaired by Noguchi’s Prof William Ampofo, to promote the agenda for vaccine development and manufacturing in Africa by Africans for the world''.