The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo tasked the Board of the National Vaccine Institute (NVI) on Wednesday with realizing the vision of developing and manufacturing vaccines domestically.
As witnessed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he told the board that Ghana must develop the capacity to produce vaccines in order to reduce its reliance on unreliable sources.
The nation can no longer be used as a chess piece in the global vaccine market. They must achieve vaccine self-sufficiency to meet future national, regional, and continental health security needs.
The call was made by the President when he inaugurated the new thirteen-member Governing Board in a brief ceremony at Accra’s Jubilee House.
The Board, presided over by Dr. Anarfi Asamoah-Baah, the head of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, will facilitate the coordination of I-related activities in Ghana.
The other members of the board are Prof. William Kwabena Ampofo, Chief Executive Officer of the NVI; Dr. Baffour-Awuah, representative of the Ministry of Health; Mr. Mustapha Tawiah Kumah, representative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry; Dr. Daniel Gyingiri Achel, representative of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation; and Ms. Fredrica Sala Illiasu, representative of the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of 9.
The rest are Dr. Delese Darko, representative of the Food and Drugs Authority; Professor Alex Dodoo, representative of the Ghana Standards Authority; Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, representative of the Ghana Health Service; Mr. Kofi Nsiah-Poku, representative of the President of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana; Professor Kofi Opoku Nti, President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences; Professor Gordon A. Awandare; and Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, both nominees of the Minister of Health.
President Akufo-Addo recalled Ghana’s struggle to secure vaccines on the international market when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country, saying, “We cannot continue on this unsustainable path.”
He said global vaccine politics encouraged his government to initiate measures to produce critical vaccines locally and asked the Board to work to meet the expectations of Ghanaians to save the country from global vaccine nationalism and geopolitics.
He assured the NVI board of the government’s support and urged the body to pursue stakeholder consultation in the fulfillment of its mandate.
Dr. Asamoah-Baah assured the president that the board would work to ensure the efficient implementation of the key functions of the institute.
“We recognize that our remit is a subset of the broader national agenda, and as a nation, we still have challenges with vaccine literacy, vaccine hesitancy, vaccine shortage, and vaccine financing.
“We pledge to collaborate with the agencies and institutions that have prime responsibility for these areas so that not only do we do our work, but we will also help to advance the vaccine agenda,” he said.
The President subsequently commissioned the new ultramodern office complex for the NVI in Cantonments, Accra, and tasked the institute with maintaining the building.
A parliamentary act established the NVI, which oversees vaccine development, research, and production in Ghana.