Africa Medicines for Africa’s Lenias Hwenda reflects on Moderna’s recent decision not to go ahead with plans for a vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya, and why local production remains crucial to building Africa’s healthcare autonomy.   In a turn of events that is both disappointing yet somehow not surprising, Moderna recently…

Africa Medicines for Africa’s Lenias Hwenda argues that the success of the much-talked-about African Medicines Agency hinges on a critical mass of African national regulators achieving WHO Level 3 maturity status. While acknowledging the importance of international actors in making this happen, Hwenda argues that – if the African Medicines Agency…

Africa Writing in the February 2024 edition of the DIA Global Forum magazine, Verena Pfaffinger and Ilona Baraniak-Lang of PharmaLex examine how the drug shortages seen in the global south during and after the COVID-19 pandemic can best be overcome through the adoption of decentralised manufacturing.   The COVID-19 pandemic exposed…

Global Tremendous strides have been made in both treatment and prevention of AIDS and it is no longer among the 10 leading causes of death globally, however an estimated 39 million people were living with the disease globally in 2022. HIV treatments has become more manageable and are reaching more patients…

South Africa Dr Benji Pretorius, the founder of Erada Technology Alliance and a malaria survivor himself, shares his insights into why the development of a truly effective malaria vaccine will only succeed in combating the world’s number one killer if it is integral to a ubiquitous, efficacious diagnostic programme.   Malaria, a…

Africa Writing in the July 2023 edition of DIA’s Global Forum magazine, Nevena Miletic of Roche and the IFPMA’s Africa Regulatory Network and Ian Hudson from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation look back on the progress made towards instituting an African Medicines Agency and the next steps in this important…

Africa The third and final piece in Lenias Hwenda of Medicines for Africa’s series looking back at the challenges and successes of HIV/AIDS treatments over the past 40 years and potential medical breakthroughs to come (read part one here and part two here). Here, Hwenda examines the persistent challenge of HIV/AIDS…

Africa The second in a three-part series looking back at the challenges and successes of HIV/AIDS treatments over the past 40 years and potential medical breakthroughs to come (read part one here) from Lenias Hwenda of Medicines for Africa. Here, Hwenda shines a light on the importance of preventing mother-to-child transmission…

Africa In the first of a series looking back at the challenges and successes of HIV/AIDS treatments over the past 40 years and potential medical breakthroughs to come, Lenias Hwenda of Medicines for Africa shares her personal meditations on the HIV pandemic, the impact of expanded access to antiretroviral therapy, and…

Global During the COVID-19 pandemic discussions around increasing access to medicines for low and middle-income countries (LMICs) were often centred on compulsory licensing. As a result, pharma companies were up in arms about protecting the intellectual property (IP) of their innovative medicines. But there is an alternative, says Charles Gore from…

Africa As part of a special focus on drug development and clinical research in Africa in February 2023’s DIA Global Forum magazine, Lisa Ursella Collins of Innomas Clinical Research, Leslie Sam from Leslie Sam and Associates, Jayesh Pandit, a Patient Safety Advocate from Kenya, Helen Ndagije of the Uganda National Drug…

South Africa Roughly half of Africa’s 1.1 billion people lack regular access to even the most essential medicines and most of Sub-Saharan Africa depends on imports which make up as much as 70 to 90 percent of the medicines consumed there. As the COVID-19 pandemic further demonstrated this dependence and the vulnerability…