KIGALI,
Rwanda
President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame on Monday March 1, stressed the need for African countries to speak with one voice with regards to equity in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
He was speaking at the second edition of Aswan Forum for
Sustainable Peace and Development. The forum was initiated under Egypt’s
chairmanship of the African Union, and seeks to assess and address several
challenges that the African continent faces.
Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was the AU chairman
for the year 2019.
This year’s meeting was held virtually under the
theme: "Shaping Africa’s New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding
Better" and brought together senior African officials and heads of
governments.
In his remarks, President Kagame pointed out key things that can
help Africa recover from Covid-19 negative impacts, and ensure health security.
“Creating robust continental supply chains for pharmaceutical
manufacturing is essential for Africa’s future health security. Africa should
speak with one voice on the importance of global vaccine equity, both now and
in the future,” he underscored.
The call for fairness in the supply of Covid-19 vaccine follows
recent remarks by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, condemning “deals between some high-income countries
and manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines” that undermine the COVAX initiative by reducing the
number of doses it can purchase to developing countries.
Kagame also called on African states to prioritize domestic health financing especially
in light of the Covid-19 pandemic to improve health outcomes and resilience.
He said: “The pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of
increasing domestic health financing on our continent. National health systems
have been the backbone of pandemic response on our continent.”
“Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) has proven
its value during this pandemic. We must further strengthen Africa’s CDC to
ensure its autonomy and effectiveness."
He highlighted that the Africa CDC among others helped secure and
distribute test kits, PPEs, collected epidemiological data and supported the
collective procurement of supplies and vaccines.
He urged AU member states to support the implementation of Continental Free Trade Area Agreement which he said was the key strategy for rebuilding better from Covid-19 adverse effects.
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