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November 2009
AU/NEPAD and COHRED are cooperating to help African countries:
- Build human and regulatory capacity and infrastructure for
pharmaceuticals.
- Implement both the African Union Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan and
the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action.
Many African countries have the potential to engage in ‘pharmaceutical innovation’ - i.e. the
process of local development and production of essential drugs and other medicinal products that
can help them meet their dire public health needs.
To achieve this, countries need to apply knowledge to create additional value and national goods.
This can be new knowledge and skills or using existing knowledge in new ways. To prepare,
countries should do complete analyses of their current situation (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats) and collect accurate data. From this foundation countries can then
design innovation strategies and action plans that are realistic, effective, and allow them to
negotiate with potential donors and partners in the pharmaceutical industry. Innovation strategies
may be national, regional or continental; pooling the best of skills and services from several
countries into shared systems.
The Yaoundé Process¹ started in 2007 to support African countries to achieve pharmaceutical
innovation and access to medicines. This process aims to provide a clearer picture of African
medical research, and production and access to medicines. It should allow countries to define
their needs and develop strategies for improving access to essential medical products.
Mapping of production and access to essential medicines in Africa
The Yaoundé Process study is the first attempt at a comprehensive mapping of African countries
with emerging innovation systems; and covers drug discovery to development, delivery and
access on the continent. It includes pharmaceutical companies, global health programmes,
public-private and product development partnerships, local producers, NGOs and others.
Tools and guidelines for countries to design ‘innovation strategies’
The study reflects on countries’ needs for human, infrastructure and regulatory capacity
development and on requirements for putting local drug manufacturing systems in place. It also
analyzes the approaches of several countries and summarizes lessons learned. These findings are
being developed into tools and a guide for policy makers and managers who are in charge of
designing strategies for African local production of and improved access to medicines, and
regional cooperation.
The Yaoundé Process concludes in January 2010 with the launch of its findings for
Strengthening Pharmaceutical Innovation in Africa. This also marks the starting point of a
joint initiative by NEPAD and COHRED to help countries further assess their needs, develop
action plans and start the first steps of implementation2.
The findings of the Yaoundé Process will be thoroughly reviewed by a group of African experts
at a technical meeting of the African Union in Pretoria during the last week of January, 2010. The
experts will scrutinize the innovation framework from a technical and operational perspective, to
prepare for its use by African countries to improve access to medicines.
Implementation of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action
This is one of the first practical steps for the implementation of the elements of the Global
Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property that are most
relevant for the African Union Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan and for the continent.
For further information, contact Kubata Bruno
or Martine Berger.
¹ Yaoundé Process partners include COHRED, the Government of Cameroon and The Netherlands. It was started to
develop an African perspective on how to improve access to essential medical products, complementary to the Noordwijk
Agenda, of the OECD and a number of Northern countries and pharmaceutical industry partners
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