Devex CheckUp: African Medicines Agency’s next big challenge

We’re firmly in the new year now, so it’s time for each of us to take stock of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. That goes double for the African Medicines Agency. As the new organization tasked with improving the regulatory harmonization of medicines across the continent, AMA is expected to play many roles, including ensuring the quality of both imported and locally manufactured drugs. But first it needs to appoint a director general, which might happen in the first quarter of 2023. That key appointment is expected to kickstart AMA’s work. The African Union has initiated the process of recruitment, Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, the acting director of the Africa CDC, said in Kigali last month, and the post will be appointed by the AU Conference of State Parties of AMA upon recommendations of the governing board. Next, the agency needs to settle into its new home: Rwanda. The country is currently negotiating the host agreement, which outlines the responsibility of the host country and AMA. It is expected to be signed by both parties early this year. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is already working to strengthen the network of national and regional regulatory authorities on the continent, as they will serve as a foundation for AMA. Each national regulator on the continent has domestic laws that govern its operations. AMA cannot overtake sovereign laws, so it needs a clear regulatory coordination framework that respects sovereign law and regulation, Dr. Githinji Gitahi, the group CEO of Amref Health Africa, tells our colleague Sara Jerving. And finally, there’s the question of funding and expertise. “How do you not become a victim of your success and all of a sudden, on day one of operations, you have hundreds of dossiers on your desk?” asks Karrar Karrar, interim head of health policy at Save the Children UK. We will be following AMA’s progress closely so watch this space. Next for the African Medicines Agency: Appoint a director general TB frank On Tuesday, WHO took advantage of the World Economic Forum in Davos to announce plans for a new TB Vaccine Accelerator Council that will “facilitate the licensing and use of effective novel TB vaccines … [as well as] identifying and overcoming barriers to TB vaccine development.” Dr. Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership, called the new initiative “BS,” asking the age-old question: Where’s the money? The BCG vaccine, the one and only licensed tuberculosis vaccine globally, is a century old and has shown limited benefits. There are currently 16 candidate vaccines in development, each hoping to be the world’s next top TB vaccine — but money’s been a real challenge. The investment needed to accelerate their development is $10 billion, according to the partnership. “Another committee will have relevance if it will be focused on fundraising,” Ditiu tells Jenny. She isn’t criticizing WHO, she says. But to see a tangible impact by 2030, she estimates there needs to be a new vaccine by 2025 at the latest. Meanwhile at Davos, Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands challenged the so-called 100 Days Mission to apply its ambitions to produce a TB vaccine within 100 days. “Why wait for a theoretical new pathogen? Why not apply all the things that we’re thinking about to accelerate that [vaccine development] process to this pathogen that is killing so many people now?” he asked. Follow our colleague Vince Chadwick, who’s on the ground at Davos, for his coverage of the global confab all this week. + Post-Davos, Devex Pro members can join our Jan. 26 event on key development finance trends to watch in 2023. Not yet a Pro member? Start your 15-day free trial today. Buzz off Yesterday, we asked you on Twitter which global health buzzwords should be discarded in 2023. The winner of the poll? Catalytic, obviously. Global health consultant Katri Bertram agrees. Here is her list of the five buzzwords that have run their course: • Accelerate and accelerator. • Catalytic. • Paradigm Shift. • Solidarity. • Partnerships. “Words are just words, be they buzzwords or not. The real problem in global health that we need to focus on in 2023 is the substance behind the words we use,” she writes in an op-ed for Devex. Opinion: 5 buzzwords global health should sunset in 2023 Space exploration The world wasn’t prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. But is it ready for the next one? Health experts Jenny spoke to in a Twitter Space this morning didn’t think so, pointing out that many initiatives meant to help us do better next time are still in progress or not fully functioning. The Pandemic Fund has less than $500 million in actual money, and the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa isn’t ready yet to contribute vaccine supplies. But can that change in 2023? Jenny discussed the possibilities with former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, Amref Health Africa Group CEO Githinji Gitahi, and Pandemic Action Network co-founder Carolyn Reynolds. Listen to the full conversation here. Background reading: Why the world isn’t ready for the next pandemic Bright spot Last week, Jenny reported that the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership — set up to increase vaccination coverage in several low- and middle-income countries — will wind down in June and that Ted Chaiban, its global lead coordinator, is worried about countries’ ability to sustain vaccinations of older adult populations. At that time, data from early December showed said population's COVID-19 vaccination in Tanzania and Zambia were only at 10% and 13%, respectively. But Chaiban said this week that the latest data, after clearing data entry backlogs, actually shows that COVID-19 vaccinations of older adults in these two countries are much better. In Tanzania, about 99% of them have been fully vaccinated, and the rate is 80% in Zambia, as of Jan. 16. However, overall vaccinations of older adults in low-income countries still remain insufficient at just 47%, far below the global average of 79%. But that may change as new data comes, Chaiban says. ICYMI: A COVID-19 initiative for vaccine delivery is winding down What we’re reading Pregnant people and their developing babies are at higher risk for severe outcomes if they get COVID-19, a large study shows. [CNN] One hundred thousand children die of HIV each year in sub-Saharan Africa due to treatment gap. [The New York Times] Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman finds it "outrageous" that the foundation’s contributions to WHO are greater than those of most countries. [Devex]