Global Health EDCTP3 and the EDCTP Association Africa Office participate in DG Marc Lemaître visit to Cape Town
On his first mission to South Africa, Mr Marc Lemaître, Director General of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), was hosted in Cape Town by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) from 24 to 25 November 2024. Dr Michael Makanga, Executive Director of Global Health EDCTP3 joined the EDCTP Association Africa Office colleagues (Dr Thomas Nyirenda, Ms Nuraan Fakier, and Ms Michelle Nderu) in accompanying the DG to two public health-focused events organised by DSTI for the DG to visit.
The first visit was to Afrigen. The institution, renowned for advancing mRNA technology in vaccine and drug development, is part of the European Commission funded MAV+ initiative which supports local manufacturing and access to vaccines, drugs and other health technologies in Africa. The visit to Afrigen included a presentation introducing the capacities of the centre by Professor Petro Terblanche (the Managing Director of the company) and her colleagues followed by a tour around Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certified facilities for adjuvants and mRNA vaccines.
The second public health visit was to the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The institution was part of the EDCTP2-funded SPaRCS project for advancing capacity development in pharmacovigilance in Africa. The project, led by the UWC, supported coordinated development of regulatory capacity in several Southern African countries. With new funding from the European Union Delegation in South Africa and Belgium, including technical assistance from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, UWC will launch a Global Gateway MAV+ Center of Excellence of Health Systems Strengthening/Pharmacovigilance, led by Dr Hazel Bradley of the School of Public Health at UWC, who was the Project Coordinator for the SPaRCS Project. The visit included speeches from UWC leadership, South Africa EU Delegation (Mr Fulgencio Garrido Ruiz), EDCTP (Dr Michael Makanga and Dr Thomas Nyirenda), DSTI (Ms Glaudina Loots), South African Delegation to EU (Ms Eudy Mabuza), and the EU-Africa PerMed project (Dr Rizwana Mia of the South African Medical Research Council).