President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday in Seoul, South
Korea, expressed Nigeria’s readiness to become a global hub for sustainable
manufacturing and distribution of vaccine and biological pharmaceuticals to
support initiatives to keep all of mankind safe.
Buhari also called for the speedy take-off of local
production of mRNA vaccines, after the World Health Organisation (WHO) selected
Nigeria as one of six African countries to receive technology needed to produce
the vaccines.
Addressing the World Bio Summit 2022, the Nigerian leader
pledged commitment to global response to known or emerging pathogens, including
the global vaccine assurance ecosystem and equitable access for all.
Buhari told the meeting jointly convened by the Government of South Korea and WHO to discuss the future of vaccines and Bio-Health across the globe, that Nigeria would continue to explore bilateral, multilateral and other opportunities for cutting-edge technology as a centre of excellence for vaccine manufacturing and distribution.
‘‘As the mRNA technology allows science to shift attention
to yet unknown disease threats, we see opportunities to address diseases that
have plagued sub-Saharan Africa and third world countries for centuries,”
Buhari said.
‘‘We believe biomedical scientists can dream of ending the
scourge of Malaria, Ebola, Lassa fever and various endemic neglected tropical
diseases through development and manufacture of efficacious and affordable
vaccines and therapeutics.
‘‘Nigeria invites partners ready to support efforts towards
the entire value chain of vaccine technology development in our continent, to
consider working with us in Nigeria,’’ he added.
Noting that ongoing conversations on the future of vaccines
tend to support the decentralization of capacity to produce essential materials
to respond globally to pandemics, Buhari expressed Nigeria’s preference for a
global warehousing and supply chain strategy to attend to the needs of most
countries.
‘‘We believe that this concept makes sense and we fully
endorse the wisdom of strategic and balanced spread of critical manufacturing
capacity and essential stockpiles across the globe,’’ Buhari said.
Buhari, therefore, declared that Nigeria is ready and able
to offer itself for this initiative, due to its strategic geographical
location, strength of economy and market size derived from a population of over
214 million people.
He added that Nigeria’s comparative advantage is also
supported from her experience in human and animal vaccine production record
since 1924, when colonial authorities produced WHO-certified smallpox, yellow
fever and anti-rabies vaccines locally – a technology that has been improved upon
and being used in Jos, Plateau State of Nigeria.
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