•Nyalita said that Kenya has made significant progress in the prevention of many vaccine-preventable killer human diseases.
• She added that the initiative will serve as a benchmark and guide for other vaccine and drug manufacturing facilities in the country and the region
Image: courtesy
Two organizations have lauded the Ministry of Health for securing the deal for Moderna to set up a Sh 57. 9 billion ($500 million) vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya.
Kenya Healthcare Federation (KHF) and Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) said Kenya would now be able to supply mRNA vaccines to the African countries.
"The facility is expected to produce 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines for the continent each year," said Anastasia Nyalita, the CEO of KHF.
"The Kenya healthcare system, with its well-trained and skilled workforce, including specialists in state-of-the-art medical facilities spread across the public and private sector, makes Kenya ideal for the Moderna Vaccine Manufacture," Nyalita said.
Nyalita added that even though the Moderna Vaccine manufacturing plant will be the first of its kind in the country, Kenya has been manufacturing animal vaccines through the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute.
"This experience can be leveraged in setting up and running the proposed Covid-19 manufacturing plant."
With this development, KHF has urged MoH to fast track the ratification of the Treaty for the Establishment of African Medicines Agency (AMA) and secure the hosting of AMA.
The AMA Treaty entered into force on November 5, 2021, upon deposit of the 15th Instrument of ratification at the African Union Commission.
"Kenya is among the countries that have neither signed nor ratified the Treaty and we call upon the Kenyan Government to support this initiative," Nyalita said.
Nyalita said its ratification will cement the Business Case for Kenya as a Hub for high quality and affordable health products, health technologies and healthcare provision/delivery.
She added that this will attract investments in Biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, related medical products and infrastructure, therefore, catapulting Kenya to a leadership position in the sustainable supply of pharmaceuticals.
"We are confident that these two opportunities, Moderna manufacturing facility and AMA, present huge benefits for our country and its citizens, which include sustainable supply chains, technology transfer, knowledge transfer, skills transfer, manufacture of complex and more advanced medicines among others," Nyalita said.
Nyalita said that Kenya has made significant progress in the prevention of many vaccine-preventable killer human diseases since the inception of the Kenya Expanded Programmes on Immunization (KEPI) in 1980.
The KEPI adoption was a part of the Global Expanded Programmes for Immunization.
"This was followed by the initiation of several vaccine programs like the Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiative - Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI -ICR)."
KAVI - ICR is a research unit which was established in 1998 and has successfully undertaken numerous HIV vaccine trials, drug trials, epidemiological, and basic research projects.
In 2021, Kenya launched the first malaria vaccine (RTS,S) administration alongside Malawi and Ghana following three decades of research on the vaccine.
"This ongoing discussion demonstrates that Kenya is well equipped with expertise for vaccine research, clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and pharmacovigilance studies," Nyalita added.
She noted that the initiative will serve as a benchmark and guide for other vaccine and drug manufacturing facilities in the country and the region, even as Kenya attracts health investors.