Africa needs to increase its own vaccine production to address various health crises, stated Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Wednesday.
Angola is currently battling a severe cholera outbreak, with hundreds of deaths this year.
Lourenco, who also leads the African Union, stressed during a videoconference with other African leaders that placing medicine and vaccine production on the continent is essential for a “strong and sustainable response” to current and future crises.
He warned that “total dependence on external imports limits our ability to respond and compromises our health sovereignty.”
According to an April report by the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDCP), over 90% of vaccines, medicines, and other essential health supplies used in Africa are imported.
Several African countries are grappling with cholera outbreaks, with Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola among the most severely affected.
As of June 2, Angola had reported over 24,530 cholera cases and 718 deaths this year.
The Sudanese health ministry separately reported 172 cholera deaths in a single week in the war-torn country on May 27.
The ACDCP report highlighted that Africa’s reliance on imported health products has proven disastrous during previous epidemics like Covid-19, Ebola, Marburg, and mpox, leaving the continent vulnerable to global trade tensions, geopolitical disruptions, and logistical delays.
Public health emergencies in Africa have significantly increased, rising from 152 in 2022 to 213 in 2024, the report added.