CEPI and Institut Pasteur de Dakar Announce 10-year Partnership to Boost Manufacturing of Affordable Vaccines for the Global South
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), a network that aims to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures in an equitable way in order to prevent pandemics, and the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD), a non-profit organization promoting public health and well-being in West Africa, announced a new partnership. This partnership will attempt to advance equitable access to vaccines in Africa and support the African Union's goal of increasing African manufacturers' share of vaccine supply to the continent to 60% by 2040. It will also aim to increase the manufacture of affordable vaccines at IPD facilities in Dakar and to specifically produce vaccines for the Global South during outbreaks and pandemics to avoid the inequity that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first chapter of this partnership will bolster the development and sustainability of IPD's manufacturing facilities for routine and outbreak vaccinations, as well as invest in vaccine technologies in order to supply vaccines to Global South countries within 100 days of the identification of a new pathogen. This goal is known as the 100 Days Mission, with a focus on timing that is essential to preventing future outbreaks from becoming pandemics.
The partnership will also launch a bioprocessing laboratory to expedite vaccine production and decrease costs, invest in specialist workforce training, and aid the development of IPD’s quality management system. This will all support CEPI's goal to create a new network of vaccine manufacturers in the Global South in order to produce and distribute vaccines equitably and avert future pandemics.
Read more about this partnership here!
Do you think this partnership will be to achieve their stated mission? What do you see as challenges to achieving these goals? Do you see any way this could impact your own immunization work in either a positive or negative way? What are your thoughts/critiques on the 100 Days Mission? Do you view it as a feasible goal?
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