Almost 17 percent of the world's population live on the continent — but it produces less than 1 percent of all the world's vaccines.
And every year African governments spend millions on importing them.
In East Africa alone, we speak about 178 million people, and they're importing not only vaccines but also every kind of pharmaceutical product.
In 2014 alone, Africa governments purchased almost $900 million (€790.7 million) worth of vaccines for basic child immunization.
Manuel Batz, the director of Africa sales at the German pharmaceutical giant Merck, estimates that, new manufacturing plants in Africa from a technical point of view, could start producing within two years. But before that they would need clarification on some central questions.
"The issue is profit," he says in a DW interview. "Anyone who invests in a manufacturing plant with fill and finish vaccines needs to have the assurance that the vaccines will be bought at a certain price for a certain time to have a safe investment environment. Here the local government will be the main customer, but will only source if the cost of the locally filled vaccines is not much higher than the cost of vaccines sourced from India."
And every year African governments spend millions on importing them.
In East Africa alone, we speak about 178 million people, and they're importing not only vaccines but also every kind of pharmaceutical product.
In 2014 alone, Africa governments purchased almost $900 million (€790.7 million) worth of vaccines for basic child immunization.
Manuel Batz, the director of Africa sales at the German pharmaceutical giant Merck, estimates that, new manufacturing plants in Africa from a technical point of view, could start producing within two years. But before that they would need clarification on some central questions.
"The issue is profit," he says in a DW interview. "Anyone who invests in a manufacturing plant with fill and finish vaccines needs to have the assurance that the vaccines will be bought at a certain price for a certain time to have a safe investment environment. Here the local government will be the main customer, but will only source if the cost of the locally filled vaccines is not much higher than the cost of vaccines sourced from India."
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