Minister Nzimande emphasises the centrality of science and innovation for the development of pandemic preparedness capacity in South Africa and Africa
Earlier today, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Blade Nzimande, joined the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi at the launch of the 4th 100 Days Mission Implementation Report of the International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat (IPPS), which was held in Cape Town.
This event is an initiative that is aimed at ensuring global access to diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines (DTVs) within 100 days of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) declaration.
The 4th 100 Days Report was unveiled at an event that was co-hosted with the Department of Health, and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
The report seeks to highlight that, while there has been significant progress at a national level, the world remains insufficiently prepared for a 100-day response to a future pandemic.
The report is accompanied by the 2nd iteration of the 100DM scorecard which shows that critical gaps remain, particularly in the development and deployment of diagnostics and therapeutics for diseases with pandemic potential.
Speaking at the event, Minister Nzimande emphasised the centrality of science and innovation in the development of local pandemic preparedness capacity.
He stated that “Like Minister Motsoaledi, I believe that strong and robust local and regional science and innovation ecosystems are key in the development of pandemic preparedness and more specifically, for a country’s ability to respond swiftly and effectively to infectious disease outbreaks. For this, we require all three critical tools– diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. As you are aware, effective and accessible diagnostics are vital for early disease detection and containment. Therapeutics are key to reducing the severity of disease and can be a lifesaving tool for people who are unable to use or access vaccines. Vaccines act as both a prevention and response tool capable of stopping a disease in its tracks. The more we innovate these tools, such as point of care diagnostics, broad-spectrum antivirals, and mRNA vaccines, the more we improve our ability to respond quickly.”
In expressing his department’s commitment to the development of local pandemic preparedness capacity, Minister Nzimande emphasised that “Our commitment as the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation to the development of local pandemic preparedness capacity is informed by a number of things. This includes the excellence, rigour and tenacity that was displayed by our scientists at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and how this enhanced our knowledge of the different variants of this pandemic. The other reason for our commitment to pandemic preparedness arises from the tragic experience we had as the African continent during the same period, where we found ourselves hopelessly dependent on the vaccines from the Global North. This is why equitable international partnerships are critical to developing credible pandemic preparedness.”
Minister Nzimande further stated that, in line with his department’s Decadal Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (2022-2032), “we are going place pandemic preparedness as one of the key focus areas of South Africa’s G20 Presidency and therefore, we will be advocating for meaningful partnership in both the Research & Innovation Track and the Health Track as a way of strengthening science ecosystems for equitable innovation. These two tracks are essential for pandemic preparedness and R&D ."
Minister Nzimande also emphasised the importance of pandemic preparedness capacity for the African continent by stating that “the African continent is making progress towards the development a sovereign African Research and Development, and Science Agenda. The AU Commission for Education, Science and Technology has developed and adopted what we call the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for AFrica (STISA). This will provide a common continental framework to deal with STI in the continent, within which we can locate most of our STI initiatives and collaboration in the continent like work in pandemic preparedness. We are pleased to say that our department was part of the original conceptualisation and development of this strategy.”
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