The 2024 Industry Engagement Forum is scheduled for May 7-9, 2024, in Lagos, Nigeria. Its topic is “Unlocking Healthcare Value Chains and Driving Investment through Partnerships: Accelerating Equitable Access to Quality-Assured Sustainable Health Products.” The forum, which aims to accelerate equitable access to critically needed health products through creative partnerships and to encourage investment opportunities as interventions to boost local pharmaceutical manufacture, is expected to draw more than 300 people.
In collaboration with the Presidential Initiative on Unlocking Healthcare Value Chains (PVAC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the international health organization Unitaid are co-convening the forum. Through diverse alliances and significant financial commitments, the plan is a calculated decision to unlock billions in new investments and transform the health care landscape in Nigeria and throughout Africa.
Adopting a strategic strategy to bringing diagnostics, therapies, and medical equipment to Africa through bolstering domestic production will improve health security, expand long-term access to reasonably priced healthcare, and offer customized solutions for local requirements. This will also help meet climate targets by lowering transportation costs and carbon emissions, as well as the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Industrializing the health care industry is no longer an option. Future stability and growth depend on it, as stated by PVAC National Coordinator Dr. Abdu Mukhtar.
Participants in the forum will include representatives from the international and African healthcare sectors, as well as government agencies, research centers, regulatory bodies, industry associations, development partners, development finance institutions, donor organizations, and foundations that support access to medications and diagnostics. conversations on developing long-term regional value chains for health products will take place over the course of three days. These conversations are essential to attaining UHC and improving health security throughout the continent.
In order to demonstrate our dedication to bolstering regional manufacturing value chains and building robust health ecosystems, IFC is co-hosting this event in Africa. Dahlia Khalifa, IFC Regional Director for Central Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, stated that Nigeria was an important choice for this event due to its robust pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and legislative improvements for universal health care.
Solomon Quaynor, Vice President for the Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization at AfDB, stated, “The African Development Bank is implementing a groundbreaking Pharmaceutical Action Plan with investment of $100 million annually to bolster Africa’s pharmaceutical ecosystem through strategic private and public sector interventions and partnerships.” “We will present our innovative Pharmaceutical Action Plan 2021–2030 and a range of financial and non-financial tools intended to empower the pharmaceutical private sector at the crucial Health Care Industry Engagement Forum.”
“Investing in the regional production of cost-effective, high-quality health products in Africa is a great idea right now. Robert Matiru, Director of Programs at Unitaid, stated that “the current state of global health, along with Africa’s expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, offers a unique chance to achieve more robust and self-sufficient health care systems across the continent.” “Localizing production strengthens local economies, lessens reliance on foreign supply chains, and increases access to essential health products.” For health care to be robust and sustainable, regional manufacturing must be strengthened. Collaboration among stakeholders is essential to realizing this objective.”
The 2024 Industry Engagement Forum (IEF) is a component of a global stakeholder engagement series aimed at advancing equitable access to health care solutions, advancing health innovation accessibility, and strengthening low- and middle-income nations’ ability to effectively prepare for and respond to health emergencies.