The National Vaccine Institute has established a 13-member Governing Board, which has been called upon to make Ghana a vaccine manufacturing hub for the entire African continent, not just West Africa.
The board includes Dr. Anarfi Asamoa-Baah as Chairman, and other members including Prof. William Ampofo, Dr. Baffuor Awuah, Mustapha Tawiah Kumah, Dr. Daniel Gyingiri Achel, Ms. Frederica Sala Illiasu, Dr. Delese Darko, Prof. Alex Dodoo, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Kofi Nsiah-Poku, Prof. Kofi Opoku Nti, Prof. Gordon A. Awandare, and Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson
The new board was inaugurated alongside the commissioning of a new building seen as a significant step in the country’s efforts to produce its own vaccines.
In a statement delivered during the commissioning on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, President Akufo-Addo highlighted his government’s determination to ensure that Ghana is never again a victim or a pawn of the international vaccine order.
He went on to explain that vaccine nationalism played out by the developed world during the COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call for Ghana to take its destiny into its own hands.
In response to this challenge, President Akufo-Addo set up the Vaccine Manufacturing Committee in February 2021, which has now been transformed into the National Vaccine Institute by Act of Parliament. The Institute has been given $25 million to coordinate and facilitate the capacity of domestic pharmaceutical companies to fill, finish, and package mRNA COVID-19, malaria, and tuberculosis vaccines.
President Akufo-Addo expressed his government’s commitment to ensuring Ghana’s independence from the international vaccine order and played down the impact of vaccine nationalism on the country’s determination to take its destiny into its own hands.
He emphasized the importance of the Institute to Ghana, Africa, and the world and noted that vaccine production is a key part of the country’s economic development plan and will significantly contribute to public health goals on the continent.
By Vincent Kubi