MMV and the Africa CDC & P sign MOU to support African manufacturers of malaria medicines
On the sidelines of the 2nd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2022), which is taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) (www.MMV.org) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focused on strengthening African manufacturing of malaria medicines.
The goal of the MoU is to optimize the use and health benefits of currently available goods across the continent by enhancing supply security together and facilitating fair access to high-quality, licensed antimalarials. Through the MoU, MMV and the Africa CDC reaffirmed their dedication to cooperating in order to accomplish a shared goal: to improve Africa’s manufacturing capacity in order to combat diseases like malaria that continue to afflict the continent.
The delivery of important medications made in Africa with a guarantee of quality is an aim shared by MMV and Africa CDC, according to Pierre Hugo, senior director of market dynamics and international partnerships at MMV. “We think there will be chances to increase access to high-quality antimalarials in the public and private sectors through focused investments and partnerships with specific producers.
The MoU also describes how MMV and Africa CDC would collaborate with partners to fund and purchase locally produced, high-quality pharmaceuticals. This involves lobbying AU Member States to enact free trade agreements to enable the regional distribution of medicines made locally and with assurances of quality.
Dr. Nicaise Ndembi, Senior Science Advisor for the Africa CDC, asserted that Africa is capable of producing its own pharmaceuticals. “The partnership between Africa CDC and MMV will boost domestic drug production and concentrate on setting up a number of regional hubs to produce finished pharmaceutical products and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API)” (FPP).
The partnership will assist African Union Member States and aims to accelerate and scale up African manufacturing by leveraging current resources and creating new ones to facilitate the production of malaria APIs and FPPs with high-quality assurance. The recent WHO prequalification of a sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (https://bit.ly/3HVyXmj), a medication that protects pregnant women from malaria, by Kenya-based Universal Corporation Limited (UCL), sponsored by MMV, served as a reminder of the potential advantages of such a partnership.
