Dr Takeshi Kasai, Regional Director of the Western Pacific Region; Dr Soumya Swaminathan; Dr Mariangela Simao; Dr Rogerio Pinto; Dr Frederik Kristensen; Senior Representatives of ministries and national regulatory authorities; Representatives of vaccine developers & manufacturers; Representatives of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; Distinguished partners,
Warm greetings and welcome to this unique workshop event, which brings together vaccine manufacturers, regulators and stakeholders from the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions to advance three overarching and interrelated objectives:
First, to improve access to quality-assured vaccines in the context of COVID-19.
Second, to increase health security by enhancing the geographical spread of vaccine development and manufacturing capacity.
And third, in advancing these objectives, to accelerate towards the full range of Sustainable Development Goal targets, both health and non-health related.
The COVID-19 pandemic has yielded an array of lessons learned – lessons that highlight the critical importance to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of developing robust and sustainable local production capacity for vaccines and other medical products.
Despite the unprecedented speed at which safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and produced globally, inequitable access continues to result in avoidable morbidity and mortality.
Globally, high-income countries have administered 13 times more doses per person compared to low-income countries. Twenty-seven LMICs have vaccinated less than 10% of their population, while 78 have vaccinated less than 40%.
Such inequities and the outcomes they yield are unethical and unsustainable, and directly impede WHO’s goal of ensuring at least 70% of eligible populations are vaccinated in all countries globally by mid-2022.
Despite an array of challenges, the South-East Asia Region continues to accelerate vaccination coverage.
Ten Member States are vaccinating all adults over 18 years of age and have now extended vaccination to adolescents.
Nine Member States have initiated booster doses for select population groups.
Over the past year, more than 2.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered in the Region, with 1.36 billion individuals – almost 66% of the Region’s total population – having received one dose, and more than 1 billion people – almost 53% – now fully vaccinated.
Nine of the Region’s 11 Member States have fully vaccinated at least 40% of their total population. Two Member States have fully vaccinated more than 70%.
The South-East Asia Region has for many years been a vaccine manufacturing powerhouse – and so it has been for COVID-19.
The Region has already produced around 2 billion vaccine doses.
India is one of the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and has vaccinated its population primarily through domestic vaccine production.
Other Member States have depended on the COVAX mechanism, in addition to vaccine donations and bilateral government deals.
National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) in the Region have granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to 14 COVID-19 vaccines.
Four vaccines developed and produced by two countries of the Region have been granted WHO-Emergency Use Listing (WHO-EUL).
WHO will continue to provide NRAs in the Region targeted support to strengthen EUA procedures, including by improving quality management systems and enhancing standard operating procedures.
Additionally, WHO will continue to support the approval of vaccines under the WHO-EUL and pre-qualification mechanisms.
But amid heightened global demand for COVID-19 vaccines – including booster doses – and ongoing disruptions to travel and trade, countries of the Region continue to face delayed and/or insufficient vaccine supplies.
If unaddressed, such delays will prevent us from achieving our mid-2022 target, causing yet more avoidable morbidity and mortality, and prolonging the acute phase of this pandemic.
In coming sessions, you will identify current vaccine manufacturing capacities, review landscape survey data from both WHO regions, and begin designing a bi-regional vaccine manufacturing environment that is robust and sustainable, and which can effectively respond to future epidemics and pandemics.
Together, we must address five priorities.
First, in examining regional and national factors that affect vaccine production, sustainability and efficiency, we must consider commercial viability, including the capacity of local manufacturing units to manufacture multiple vaccine products on a campaign basis.
Second, in highlighting manufacturing gaps and identifying next steps to improve manufacturing preparedness and response capacity, we must account for the agility of manufacturers to adopt newer technologies, such as those for novel mRNA-based vaccines, as well as to adapt vaccine configurations.
Third, in reviewing and finalizing regional landscape survey data on vaccine R&D and manufacturing, we must highlight the need for transparent information and data exchange, while respecting intellectual property rights.
Fourth, in establishing strategic partnerships with existing or new networks and stakeholders, we must optimize the use of human and financial resources, with a focus on public-private partnerships.
Fifth, while brainstorming future activities, we must identify ways to strengthen oversight and leadership to ensure “local ownership”, and should consider establishing centres of excellence for training, R&D and manufacturing.
I urge you to make the most of this opportunity to harmonize regional and global plans to build a manufacturing environment that is robust and sustainable, for a safer, healthier and more equitable world.
I wish you productive deliberations and look forward to the outcome.
Thank you.