Italy 'strongly supports' the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation and will give up to 150 million dollars to its financing tool that aims to propel the vaccine manufacturing industry's growth in Africa by making up to a billion dollars available to beneficiary countries over the next decade.
“Italy strongly supports Gavi. The recent pandemic has proven how essential it is to have fair access to vaccines worldwide,” a statement cited Tajani as saying.
“It is our duty to save lives and strengthen health systems in African countries," Tajani said.
The Italian government is bolstering its national ‘sovereignty’ in the health, pharmaceutical and vaccine fields, Tajani said.
"This conference in Paris is an opportunity for us to export our know-how to Africa. By supporting the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA)...we want African nations to be more than just aid recipients. We want them to play a leading role in a cooperation among equals for shared growth,” concluded Tajani.
The 'Protecting Our Future – The Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation organised by France, the African Union and Gavi represents a high-level opportunity to launch the AVMA initiative, conceived by Gavi in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the statement said.
AVMA will allow over 800 million doses of locally produced vaccines to be purchased, with the goal of producing at least 60% of the vaccine doses required on the continent by 2040.
Italy's 150 million contribution to AVMA will make the country one of the main donors, according to the statement. Italy will also contribute by directly involving its national pharmaceutical system in supporting the development of African health systems, the statement noted.
The Paris meeting was being attended by France's president Emmanuel Macron, Gavi's president Juan Manuel Barroso, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK foreign minister David Cameron, European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen, and the Chairpersons of the African Union Commission of Mauritania (African Union Chairmanship), Senegal and Botswana.
Gavi is a public-private partnership to ensure vaccine coverage in the poorest countries.
