African blocs push joint funding, local production of medical supplies

NAIROBI,Kenya,Oct 17 — African regional economic blocs have called for a joint financing compact and coordinated procurement of medical supplies to strengthen health emergency preparedness and reduce reliance on fragmented regional responses to disease outbreaks.

The proposals are among recommendations adopted at a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, where five Regional Economic Communities (RECs) called for stronger cross-border disease surveillance, expanded regional manufacturing and sustained investment in health security beyond existing project funding.

The meeting, held from October 14 to 16, brought together the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), alongside continental and international health partners.

The blocs recommended developing a regional financing compact, with support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the World Health Organization, to sustain gains in health emergency preparedness, response and resilience beyond current project funding.

“RECs should prepare joint funding proposals and coordinate joint engagements with technical and development partners, philanthropists and private investors to finance agreed regional priorities on local/regional manufacturing of health products and technologies,” read the statement in part.

They also called for pooled procurement mechanisms, including arrangements between regional blocs, supported by joint demand forecasting, coordinated purchasing and long-term purchasing agreements to create more predictable markets for locally manufactured health products.

The recommendations seek to address gaps in the availability of essential medical supplies during public health emergencies while strengthening the capacity of African manufacturers to meet regional demand.

Regional manufacturing

The blocs urged countries to coordinate investments in local manufacturing, warning against duplication of facilities and resources that could undermine commercial viability.

“RECs should advocate for the countries to build on the existing capacities across the RECs rather than pursuing identical investments that may not be commercially viable,” the recommendations state.

The proposed approach would involve sharing technical expertise, training institutions, centres of excellence and regional reference laboratories while establishing a joint action framework with defined responsibilities, timelines, resource commitments and performance indicators.

The recommendations also call for stronger collaboration between the African Union’s health agencies, WHO and regional economic communities to align manufacturing priorities with medicines regulation and pandemic preparedness.

The African Medicines Agency and regional blocs are expected to strengthen regulatory cooperation, support national regulatory authorities and promote reliance on assessments conducted by other recognised regulators.

Africa CDC and the regional blocs are expected to identify priority medical products required during public health emergencies and coordinate procurement mechanisms to improve purchasing power and provide greater market predictability for local manufacturers.

Cross-border disease surveillance

Beyond manufacturing, the recommendations call for coordinated investments at priority border entry points and formal cross-border agreements to improve the detection and management of disease outbreaks.

The blocs want participating countries to harmonise operational procedures, improve information sharing and strengthen referral systems and joint planning to enable faster, coordinated responses to emerging health threats.

They also proposed expanding field epidemiology training programmes, simulation exercises and professional exchanges to build a multidisciplinary workforce capable of responding to outbreaks across national borders.

Regional laboratory networks would be strengthened through improved diagnostic capacity, harmonised quality standards and cross-border sample referrals, alongside faster sharing of surveillance data.

The recommendations further call for a One Health approach that links human, animal and environmental health through joint risk assessments, information sharing and coordinated early-warning systems.

They proposed a shared learning agenda to address barriers involving technology transfer, intellectual property, manufacturing standards, access to finance and workforce development.

The meeting was convened by IGAD in collaboration with the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) under the Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience Programme for Eastern and Southern Africa (HEPRRP-AFE)

The programme, which became effective in March 2024 and is scheduled to run until March 2030, covers 11 countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda’s regional neighbours and countries in Central and Southern Africa.

The participating countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Zambia.