Kenya has been asked to reject a new Covid-19 vaccine made for poor countries by a cigarette manufacturer and pharmaceuticals maker.
The Covifenz vaccine also contains particles from a plant closely related to the tobacco shrub called nicotiana benthamiana.
It was jointly developed by Canada-based Medicago company owned by Mitsubishi Chemicals, Glaxo pharmaceuticals (GSK) and Philip Morris, which makes Marlboro and Camel cigarettes.
The Consumer Information Network, a Nairobi-based non-profit, said Kenya should not "embarrass" itself by supporting the vaccine.
“Our prayer is government does not embarrass the people of Kenya and the rest of the world who look to us as an example and a beacon of hope on matters of tobacco control," CIN chief executive Samuel Ochieng said.
Ochieng said the World Health Organization has already refused to prequalify this vaccine, which has only been approved in Canada.
The manufacturer said they wantn to take part in the WHO’s Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) programme, which provides vaccines to the developing world.
"It is our understanding this decision (WHO's preliminary rejection) is linked to Medicago's minority shareholder and not the demonstrated safety and efficacy profile of our Covid-19 vaccine,"president and CEO Takashi Nagao said in a statement.
Ochieng said despite the WHO rejection, the manufacturer can still independently seek approval in Kenya.
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board told Star they have not received an application.
“We would unlikely approve it because we only accept the WHO-approved Covid-19 vaccines,” an official told the Star.
The final phase of a clinical trial showed Covifenz was 75.3 per cent effective in preventing symptomatic infections from the Delta variant. It was 88.6 per cent effective against the Gamma variant.
WHO rejected the vaccine last month solely because approving a drug that has links to the tobacco industry violates the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Documents from the WHO’s website on March 2 show Covifenz was listed as “not accepted” in the organisation’s expression of interest phase.
Kenya is a party to the FCTC, a global treaty that emphasises the need for public health policies to be protected from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.
Ochieng added, “It is important to note this vaccine has not been approved by the WHO and the tobacco industry cannot purport to offer any solution to public health challenges when it is also the major perpetrator of the same.”
He said the tobacco industry was keen to cleanse its image through manufacture of drugs,
At least 9,000 Kenyans are killed by tobacco use every year
British American Tobacco Plc has also set up a new biotech arm, KBio Holdings, that will focus on developing treatments and vaccines for rare and infectious diseases using plant-based technology.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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