Angolan President calls for Africa-produced vaccines amid growing cholera outbreak

Angolan President and current African Union Chairperson João Lourenço has called for urgent action to establish Africa-based vaccine production. His country is experiencing a large cholera outbreak, with over 24,000 cases and 718 deaths as of June 2. During a virtual meeting with fellow African leaders and World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Lourenço underlined the fragility of the continent’s health systems and the risks posed by overreliance on external medical imports. He warned that such overreliance does not allow prompt responses to disease outbreaks and exposes the continent to supply chain disruptions.
The Angolan President is not alone in pointing out the risks of excessive foreign dependence. In April, the African Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC) published a report similarly highlighting the continent’s vulnerability, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and more recent outbreaks of Ebola and Mpox as cautionary examples.