Minister Naledi Pandor and the Kenyan Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, Dr Beth Mugo, were jointly elected co-chairs at the inaugural meeting of the African Network of Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDI) board, held in Addis Ababa on 11 and 12 January 2011. The meeting was hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
The innovative co-chair governance structure was created in recognition of the critical need to integrate the disciplines of public health and science and technology fully in order to develop a holistic approach to addressing Africa's health challenges throughout the value chain, from discovery to development and delivery. Board members, representing North, South, East, West and Central Africa, the African Diaspora, key institutional partners such as UNECA, the World Health Organisation, the African Development Bank, the European Commission and private sector representatives, discussed strategic plans for ANDI and agreed on the importance of monitoring the success of ANDI in human terms, focusing on lives saved, jobs created and tangible improvements in quality of life generated.
The composition of the Board reflects not only the continent's regional diversity, but also the need to harness the knowledge and expertise of diverse stakeholder groups (government, academia, industry, multilateral organisations and finance) in order to create a viable and scalable model to facilitate innovation in African drugs and diagnostics. Furthermore, the meeting acknowledged the value of establishing synergy between ANDI's research agenda and the agendas of the African Union, NEPAD and regional economic communities, as well as of interfacing effectively through instruments such as the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology in order to ensure the relevance and sustainability of ANDI's work.
ANDI's technical mandate will be delivered through the newly created Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee and then extended through the establishment of a continental network of centres of excellence to build African research capacity.
Minister Pandor remarked that it was "very exciting that in the past five years African ministers of health and of science and technology have recognised that as Africa we're going to have to invest in providing solutions to our problems and challenges. I regard ANDI as a very important part of our continental response to Africa's challenges".
The Minister continued: "I believe it's absolutely vital that through our own research and development, using our own intellectual resources and institutions, and by working successfully in partnership with Africans throughout the continent and in the Diaspora, we change the face of our continent and reduce the number of people who are sick unnecessarily and who are rendered poor by the burden of disease".
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