Utano Podcast | Let's Talk about Health in Africa

28 October 2021 | Post independent Africa has managed its public health according to the wishes of international development partners. This has resulted in health systems that are distorted towards infectious diseases partly to limit the threat that they pose to the West. The notion of health security global health took the perspective of limiting as much as possible the perceived threat that infectious diseases in Africa pose to Western countries. The neglect of security of the health of Africans has been more apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic in which companies have organised their supply chains in a manner that excluded African countries from purchasing vaccines leaving 97% of Africa´s 1.3 billion people unvaccinated. The Africa Centre for disease Control, the African Union's lead agency for health security has defined a new public health order to change the paradigm of health on the continent towards a more balanced approach that places the well being of African people at its core.  Listen to Dr ahmed Ogwell Ouma explain what Africa´s new public health order entails and what it demands on the part of African governments, private sector and civil society.

 26 October 2021 |  In its recent budget, the government of Mauritius announced its plans to add a new pillar to its economy by establishing pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa. Aspen Global is leading private sector efforts to support the government put in place a framework for implementing this plan. Listen to Samer Kassem, the CEO of Aspen Global tell us more about this ground breaking work.

14 October 2021 |  For years now the third agency of the African Union that is working on public health, The AUDA-Nepad has been working on regulatory harmonisation for medicines across the African continent. The goal has always been to build towards establishing an African Medicines Agency to parallel the European Medicines Agency. The Treaty for establishing the African Medicines Agency has now achieved ratification and is expected to come into effect before the end of 2021. Listen to Michel Sidibe, the African Union Special Envoy to the African Union tell us more about these developments and their implications for the African continent.

The WHO, the African Union and the Government of South Africa have partnered to establish Africa´s first mRNA hubs in Cape Town in South Africa. This collaborative initiative is being led by Professor Petro Terblanche, the Managing Director of Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines. The company has built so many capabilities and has penetrated US andEuropean markets with its cannabinoids based products and it is formulating mRNA delivery systems, the only company in the Southern Hemisphere with this capability. Tune is to hear from Professor Terblanche about why this is the most t promising and most exciting African biotech company to emerge out of Africa.

 2 September 2021 | Africa has pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities that are not so well know because no one talks about these issues. This is why it might surprise some to discover that companies like Sothema have been making biologics like insulin on the African continent for 40 years and is now partnering with Sinopharm to make one of the few vaccines that are available and that have been issued emergency use authorisation. Madame Lamia Tazi the CEO and Chairwoman of the Board of Sothema in Morocco talked to us about the work of Sothema.

31 August 2021 | Governments, private sector and investors are all coming together to rally around the need to establish vaccine manufacturing on the African continent. The success of these efforts whenever depends on securing the market for vaccine manufacturing businesses. Professor Shabir Madhi, the Director of the Rubic Consortium which entered into a technology transfer agreement with Dyadic International tells us more about their plans to make a cost-effective vaccine at a fraction of the cost and what governments must do to secure the industry.

5 July 2021 | Corruptions seems to be accepted in many places as a normal part of life. Its quinces on the lives of ordinary people are devastating. Tune in to hear Allan Pamba the former CEO of Nairobi Hospital who found himself under tremendous undue pressure from his board for Directors to make decisions that would ultimately prove harmful to the patients in the instition´s care. 

28 June 2021 | There is a lot of talk about what is wrong with Africa, but what exactly are the steps that Africa leaders and African people should be taken to correct these challenges and put Africa on the right course? President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim addresses these questions in this conversation.

24 June 2021 |  LaGray Chemical Company owned by Dr Alexandra Graham and Dr Paul Lartey showed proof of concept of the need to manufacture pharmaceutical ingredients on the African continent in order to facilitate production by African companies. In this conversation, Dr Alexandra Graham explains the need for ingredient manufacturing in Africa and what her company achieved in Ghana.

21 June 2021 | How can Africa ensure that it is not at the end of the queue for vaccines and medical products during global health emergencies. The current global mechanisms have failed and Africa is in great need of new models of accessing vaccines.