Producing vaccines in Ghana

Context

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that Africa needs to expand its vaccine production as it currently only produces around 0.1 per cent of the global supply of vaccines. In order to cover the needs on the continent through domestic production, an industry worth millions must be established.

Ghana can contribute to this: To date, it has received vaccines free of charge from Gavi, the global vaccine alliance. However, as Ghana is now a low- to middle-income country, it will likely leave the Gavi programme between 2027 and 2029. The government has therefore established the National Institute for Vaccines to implement the ‘Roadmap for Vaccine Development and Production’ by 2031, and promote the country as a pharmaceutical producer in the region.

Objective

The Government of Ghana is successfully implementing the national roadmap for local vaccine production by 2031 and supporting the local vaccine and pharmaceutical industry in the long term.

Approach

The project’s main objectives are:

• to strengthen the administrative capacity of the National Institute for Vaccines by supporting a plan for its organisation and implementation, as well as training and advising staff.
• to build a clean room in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) standard for the regulatory authority, which can be used to regulate the local vaccines.
• to support research and development by promoting cooperation between industry and local research institutes, training employees and expanding laboratories.
• to promote producers and better market opportunities by, among other things, advising the government on the requirements.
• to create jobs - from vaccine production to distribution - by promoting the construction of factories through advisory services and networking, among other things.

With cofinancing from the European Union, the project also supports the national regulatory authority (Food and Drugs Authority, FDA) so that it can expand its competences. The aim here is to meet the World Health Organization's standard for regulating vaccines. The project is working together with the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt.

Last update: March 2024