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Nigeria’s former President,Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has advocated the need for Africa to harness available resources to provide customised home-grown solutions needed to address its health problems.
Chief Obasanjo gave the advice at the launch of the Coalition on Africa Development’s (CoDA) Independent Task Team on the Development of Vaccines, and Equitable, Universal Access to Essential Vaccines and Vaccinations in Africa in Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo state, where he also faulted the medical brain-drain and capital flight in the continent.
He said that many African researchers, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are often hired by other continents which hardly give them credits for their services.
The former Head of state, who is also the Chairman, CoDA said that the launch of CoDA’s task the team would transform the vaccination and vaccines landscape across the continent and set precedence for vaccine entrepreneurship in the continent if carefully nurtured through to maturity for a healthier Africa.
He said: “Africa’s main challenge is not the lack of funds or resources. Our main challenge is the inability to harness available resources to provide customised home-grown solutions needed to address the challenges we see across the continent.
“Many of our researchers, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are constantly being drawn out of the continent to serve in other continents. They use their intellect to serve the needs of other continents and most times without being duly credited or acknowledge for their intellectual investments, while our own health systems are underdeveloped. We need to reverse this trend and begin to take actions to harness our local resources to solve our local problems.”
He expressed optimism that through the CoDA-led initiatives would be able to encourage and retain its talents and support them in finding solutions to its age-long healthcare challenges.
He also said the initiative which was launch Monday was one of those initiatives that will help Africa look inwards to identify and channel available resources to areas where they are needed.
Chief Obasanjo, who was represented by Abdoulaye Bathily, former Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General for Central Africa at the occasion further said that Monday’s launch was in fulfillment of the promise to increase access to vaccines and vaccination in Africa.
He added:”This marks the beginning of new partnerships and collaborations that will see our continent play a lead role in vaccine development, production, and distribution.”
He commended the Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital and called on others to emulate its example by joining the unique partnership to rewrite the story of vaccine and vaccination in Africa.
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