WEBINAR SPECIAL SESSION FOR
THEME: VACCINE PRODUCTION & LOGISTICS: FROM LOCAL PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, TO ACCESS AND ADOPTION.’
Co-Hosted by
GRV Global and AUDA-NEPAD 16th SEPTEMBER 2021 - 3PM TO 4:30PM (South Africa Time)
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EVENT STATISTICS 114
REGISTRATIONS
30
8
COUNTRIES
SPEAKERS
REGIONAL BREAKDOWN n Africa 60% n Europe 21% n Asia 9% n Middle East 8% n North America 2%
PARTICIPATION TYPE 27% Freight Cargo Industry
19%
Supply Chain & Logistics Industry
19% International Organizations
WEBINAR SPECIAL SESSION FOR PHARMA LOGISTICS AFRICA • 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
•
Improving access to health service delivery and essential medicines by ensuring quality, compliance, and training across pharmaceutical logistic and supply chain system.
•
Establishing harmonized regulatory network which requires collaboration across sectors (health, trade and industry, finance, science and technology, ewnd stakeholders (policy and decision-making bodies, private sector, academia and research institutions, development finance institutions, NGOs and Civil society) to foster home grown expertise
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Building on existing strategies to ensure that the skills and capacity to produce vaccines on the African continent are utilized effectively by bridging the gap between demand and supply
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Overcoming logistical challenges in moving medical products across the African in terms of cold chain capacity, handling and storing of vaccines.
•
Improving manufacturing capacity in Africa by bringing the supply chain closer to the end user meaning that manufacturers should be required to manage products up until the last mile.
•
Implementing global standards such as GS1 scan barcoding among others to ensure product quality and avoid counterfeit.
19%
Health, Pharmaceutical, and Manufacturing Industry
8%
Government Officials
8%
Others (Nonprofit/Research/ Consultancy etc.)
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
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BACKGROUND/CONTEXT
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many health emergency challenges across the globe and has shown that global health security is built on robust, local health security foundations. The recent vaccination challenges have also raised additional concerns, and opportunities, in terms of supply chain and logistics movement and management across the African continent. The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the situation by highlighting the challenges posed by the pre-existing interdependencies on international supply chains. Supply chain and logistics have been disrupted by COVID-19 thus, the need for concerted efforts and a holistic/multisectoral approach when addressing these issues at regional and continental level. Countries have started to restrict trade in essential medical goods, increased the incentives for, and preferential treatment of, locally produced goods and established mutual procurement mechanisms. All of which will need to be incorporated into supply chain planning.
Many countries in Africa possess underutilized capacity to produce quality-assured essential pharmaceutical products locally. However, insufficient use of existing human resource and knowledge are hindering efforts to make use of local capacity in human, technological, financial, and infrastructure systems. Scaling up African pharmaceutical capacity will help provide sustainable access to quality medical products and support the continents long-term development goals under the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Since 2019, GRV Global has hosted Pharma Logistics Africa (PLA), an annual event bringing together public and private sector industry experts for high-level debate and solution finding, exploring subjects relating to pharma logistics, supply chain, local pharmaceutical capabilities, production and regulation, health emergencies, epidemics strategies and preparedness to foster dialogue and push strategic action forward
It is against this background that a Special Session of the PLA Web ahead of the Pharma Logistics Africa (PLA2021) scheduled to take place on 8 & 9 December 2021. The PLA 2021 Special session webinar was jointly organized by GRV Global and AUDA-NEPAD and took place on Thursday, 16th September 2021. GRV’s online virtual event platform known as “PNYX” was used. The webinar was convened under the theme: Vaccine Production & Logistics: from local production, distribution, to access and adoption. It brought together prominent keynote speakers and panelists from USAID, UNICEF, Astral Aviation, AUDA-NEPAD. Attendees included industry experts from leading logistics and supply chain companies, pharmaceutical companies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, government officials, health experts, airlines companies, and academic/research institutions. The Special Session provided a platform for meaningful discussions, sharing of experiences, with the aim of identifying best practices to improve the pharmaceutical ecosystem across Africa. The webinars expected outcomes included among others: 1. Developing partnerships to strengthen regional and international cooperation between the public and private sector across the African pharmaceutical sector; 2. Defining the challenges and problems; 3. Considering potential solutions to improve the pharmaceutical ecosystem across Africa in particular the logistics and supply chain aspects; 4. Setting the scene for the 3rd edition of Pharma Logistics Africa (PLA) on 8th & 9th December 2021
AUDA-NEPAD highlighted the significance of local production of pharmaceuticals in improving access to good quality essential medical products while contributing to the continent’s economic autonomy and sustainable development through the creation of viable pharmaceutical sector. As member states recover from the impact Covid 19 pandemic and introduce economic recovery efforts, Ms. Chiriga reiterated that supporting local manufacturing of pharmaceutical products must be considered as a strategic economic input and as a national and continental security issue that mitigates against shortages in the supply of essential medical products including vaccines productions. She reported on current AUDA-NEPAD’s efforts and initiatives to enhance Africa’s pharmaceutical production and wide vaccine manufacturing undertaken in partnership with relevant stakeholders to strengthen the capacity of African Union Member States and regional economic communities. These included but are not limited to: • Conceiving homegrown Solutions Business accelerator as an initiative which demonstrates capacity to produce innovative micro small and media enterprise in this area of activity
Ms. Jennifer Chiriga
• Ensuring that quality, compliance, and training are mainstreamed across the pharma logistic and supply chain system • Establishment and operationalization of the pharmaceutical manufacturing plan for Africa governance framework
Welcome Address and Official Opening
• Development and implementation of the Africa pharma best practices framework to share best practices to advance local pharmaceutical production
Ms. Jennifer Chiriga delivering opening statement on behalf of Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, CEO of
• Development and implementation of Africa pharma learning system providing effective training
WEBINAR SPECIAL SESSION FOR PHARMA LOGISTICS AFRICA • 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
• Development and implementation of the Africa pharma resource database supporting regional research network • Advocating for increased investment into local production in Africa, improve fragmented regulatory systems, coordination supply chain and manufacturing for medical products and commodities
Remarks by Mr. Andrew Dowell, CEO of GRV Global Mr. Dowell welcomed all participants to the first series of Webinar Special Session on Pharma Logistics in Africa (PLA) appreciating the AUDA-NEPAD for accepting to partner with GRV Global to organize the session and for previous support. Mr. Dowell thanked AUDA- supporting GRV Global with many participants in our previous events, and for their co-partnership, and he also took the opportunity to announce the forthcoming 3rd edition of Pharma Logistics Africa to be held online on 8th & 9th December 2021. The annual event he said brings together public and private sector industry experts exploring subjects relating to pharma logistics, supply chain, local pharmaceutical capabilities, production and regulation, health emergencies, epidemics strategies and preparedness. With GRV Global’s virtual platform “PNYX”, he reported, attendees can engage, network that will not only strengthen regional and international Andrew Dowell cooperation but also promote development initiatives across Africa.
Keynote Address by Mr. Andrew Owain Jones, Principal Advisor & Vaccine Centre Chief UNICEF Supply Division Mr. Owain Jones delivered the keynote address on behalf of UNICEF - UN Children’s Fund on the vaccine manufacturing and supply chain landscape on the African continent and the different challenges that the region is facing. He began by highlighting how UNICEF has always been engaged in the issue of vaccines long before the COVID-19 pandemic having procured vaccines for the Africa continent across the world and how they are increasingly striving to find ways to disseminate knowledge and expertise to others through vaccine practitioners’ forms and online courses to build capacity and expertise between cross country partners. He provided some insight on the evolution of the vaccine manufacturing industry over time across Africa by looking at the developed industry in particular China and India – two large scale producers of vaccines distributors across the world both following industry consolidation, and have an established export base, with some imports still being necessary. Mr. Jones echoed the sentiments of Ms. Chiriga, by stressing that a sustainable at scale vaccine manufacturing industry in Africa is only possible with a stable independent quality assurance system tying into the efforts that AUDA-NEPAD is undertaking to strengthen and harmonise regulatory systems across regional economic communities. He further reiterated the necessity of investment in financial resources for the development and manufacture of vaccines, the need for proper market design, and a supporting procurement system. Emphasizing the importance of governments
WEBINAR SPECIAL SESSION FOR PHARMA LOGISTICS AFRICA • 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
Andrew Owain Jones
He concluded his remarks by highlighted the enormous potential across the continent to improve supply chains which would require tapping into new waves of thinking to advance the industry and address the challenges. These include: • High quality talent in investment • Market access • Technology Transfer • Assistance from donors and multi-financial agencies • Education and Skills • Seeking production with existing infrastructure
Panel Discussion The second segment of the Webinar included a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Janet Byaruhanga featuring the following industry experts - Dr. Dianna Edgil, Chief of Supply Chain - Health Division of Office of HIV/AIDS, USAID - Bureau for Global Health, Dr. Emile Bienvenu, Director General of Rwanda FDA (Food & Drugs Authority), Dr. Olukayode Fasominu, Senior Manager of UNICEF - UN Children’s Fund and Gavi Alliance Global Immunisation Supply Chain Steering Committee Member and Mr. Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation. Dr. Olukayode Fasominu, Senior Manager of UNICEF - UN Children’s Fund and Gavi Alliance Global Immunisation Supply Chain Steering Committee Member spoke about the existing strategies to ensure that there are the skills and capacity to produce
vaccines on the African continent in terms research and development, production, distribution, and logistics value chain. He stated that this requires bridging the gap between demand and supply of skills to ensure that there is long term sector strategy that has a coherent policy and other structures supportive to the production and quality of products. Dr. Fasominu underlined the need to tap into the investors on the continent as the opportunity for them are currently limited and the need to create a talent pool from current universities and institutions. He called for, a whole of society approach by bringing together not just Ministries of Health but other government institutions, pharma logistics companies, vaccine production and manufacturing companies, etc. Dr. Fasominu ended his intervention by outlining a few solutions to ensure there is a constant stream and flow of resources in the continent. These include:
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creating an enabling business environment through incentives if Africa is to produce high quality pharmaceuticals. Increasing technical production talent is crucial to develop local institutions that can foster home grown expertise, he said This is demonstrated by the recent collaboration between South Africa’s Biovac Institute and Aspen Pharmacare
• Consolidating what is currently existing in terms of capacity on the demand and supply side as many opportunities are already available. • Updating university curriculum, generating interest, and tapping into the high proportion of youth in the continent and youth networks Dr. Olukayode Fasominu
• Tapping into existing knowledge from platforms such the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and regional economic communities.
Dr. Emile Bienvenu, Director General of Rwanda FDA (Food & Drugs Authority) provided perspective on the role of regulatory authorities in providing oversight across the vaccine supply and logistics value chain to ensure end to end process and product quality. Dr. Bienvenu reported on the progress the Rwanda FDA is making in strengthening its capacity to undertake a broad range of regulatory activities including inspection of vaccines, consignments, inspection at the port of
Dr. Emile Bienvenu
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entry to ensure quality of the products entering in the country, sighting examples of the end to end quality assurance activities undertaken by the agency from the time vaccine batches arrive at airport to the site of distribution sites. Dr. Bienvenu also reported on the importance of using a common database/ data sharing platform across the region. national regulatory bodies in the east African region share and collect relevant information to ensure the quality and safety of vaccines.
Mr. Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation who spoke about the logistical challenges and opportunities of moving vaccines and other medical products across the African continent to improve vaccine access highlighted the main challenges in Africa as being due to the lack of infrastructure of African airports. For example, he said, ‘only five airports in Africa have adequate cold storage capacity to handle and store vaccines’. The continents need more cold storage capacity in airports. Mr. Gadhia proposed the following intervention solutions: Mr. Sanjeev Gadhia • Foster private public partnership (PPP) to invest in cold storge equipment in the airport whether its mobile or permanent • Increase investment in building infrastructure to facilitate Last Mile Delivery: “Vaccines don’t save lives, vaccinations safe lives” • Training and capacity building of personnel especially those on the front-line workers for handling vaccines Dr. Dianna Edgil, Chief of Supply Chain - Health Division of Office of HIV/AIDS, USAID - Bureau for Global Health in her intervention emphasized the role that USAID has played to enhance the quality of
products produced and those supplied by local pharma companies in Africa in terms of quality, compliance and training across the vaccines manufacturer, supply, and distribution value chain. She sighted a few examples of how USAID is trying to improve manufacturing capacity in Africa through different bodies such as the US FDA, other FDAs, the NIH, the WHO pre-qualification process. In her intervention Dr Edgil acknowledged the importance of mainly moving manufacturers closer to where the products are being used up until the last mile especially for products that require cold chain storage. This means that global manufacturers need to move supply chain closer to the end user. She also mentioned how USAID has currently been working and investing in local institutions like the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Aspen Pharma in South Africa so they can be producing vaccines, however much more work needs to go into the process and ensuring that the manufacturers have the capability, and to streamline regulatory processes Dr. Edgil committed to continue supporting Africa in the following: • Provide technical assistance and support to manufacturers in Africa, through various training activities; • Build capacity of regulatory agencies to achieve requisite maturity level; • Provide technical assistance in policy development and reforms Finally, Dr. Edgil recommended the use of tools such asGS1 scan barcoding as a global standard to curb substandard and falsified product. The tool enables users to detect where track and trace products.
Dr. Dianna Edgil
Closing Remarks Dr. Byaruhanga concluded the webinar with three key recommendations to improve production and logistics access of vaccines going forward which include: • Manufacturers to be compliant to international standards • Investment going into training to developing skills • Ensuring quality, compliance, and training across the value chain and manufactures distribution The themes, challenges, and solutions, identified during The Webinar Special Session for Pharma Logistics Africa (PLA2021) will further be discussed and addressed during GRV Global’s 3rd edition of Pharma Logistics Africa (PLA) on 8th & 9th December which covers all aspects of Supply Chain Logistics & Distribution, Healthcare Innovation, Legislation & Supply Chain Planning, Supply Chain Resilience, and Action in Disaster Relief & Emergency situations etc. PLA2021 will also seek to develop partnerships to strengthen regional and international cooperation between the public and private sector across the African pharmaceutical sector.
Dr. Janet Byaruhanga
WEBINAR SPECIAL SESSION FOR PHARMA LOGISTICS AFRICA • 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
PCOMING
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8-9 DECEMBER 2021 VIRTUAL EVENT
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