16 August 2022
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Story Andre Damons
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Photo Supplied
Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa, Director of the University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Pharmacology, will jet off to Lomé, Togo, later this month, where he will share his knowledge and expertise on the production of herbal medicines at a special event of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Health Ministers Regional Committee for Africa.
Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa, Director of the University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Pharmacology, will share his knowledge and expertise on the production of herbal medicines at a special event of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Health Ministers Regional Committee for Africa taking place in Lomé, Togo.
This meeting, with the theme Building Back Better: Rethinking and rebuilding resilient health systems in Africa to achieve UHC and health security, is the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa and will take place between 22 and 26 August 2022. The session will be attended by African health ministers as well as the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Afro Regional Director, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, and our own Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, among the key attendees.
Prof Matsabisa will give a presentation on fast-tracking research and development and local production of herbal medicines during the second session, with the theme: Lessons to guide strengthening of health product manufacturing in Africa. He will address the meeting as Chairperson of the Regional Advisory Committee on Traditional Medicine for COVID-19 response (REACT).
Event will launch a consultative process of learning
According to documents about the event, the purpose of the meeting is for the
WHO Africa Regional Office (AFRO) to seek to collectively develop a roadmap for building resilient health systems. This comes through integrated efforts that coordinated actions across all clusters and teams in the WHO’s regional and country offices, as well as with national, regional, and global partners supporting African countries as they ramp up efforts to recover from the pandemic-induced disruption and build back better towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and being prepared for future health emergencies.
This event will launch a consultative process to learn from the lessons and experiences of countries and partners regarding the implementation and identifying successful health system strategies, and to obtain insights from leaders in the region to guide the next steps. The outcomes of the discussions will be used to inform an urgent common approach to building resilient health systems to achieve health security and UHC in Africa.
Prof Matsabisa says he is delighted to be given the opportunity as
Chair of REACT to influence the ministers of health on the continent, as well as other key influential persons, to look favourably at inward investing in the development of local therapeutics, including those from natural products. This would not only address health, but broadly cover local industrial development of the herbal industry, job creation, and wealth generation based on our natural resources.
“I believe it is time that we move away from thinking of procuring products and services and also looking for aid, but to wake up and stand up to do things for ourselves. Vaccine nationalisations have taught us a bitter lesson that we don’t want to repeat.”
“I wish to relay that the WHO missions I undertook to the many African countries to determine the capabilities for product manufacturing, clinical trials, and research and development, have indicated that Africa has the manpower, the science, technologies, as well as infrastructure capabilities for the local manufacturing of pharmaceutical therapeutics,” says Prof Matsabisa.
His presentation will be about the readiness of Africa to develop therapeutics for priority diseases based on herbal-based natural products, as well as our readiness – as the continent – to act should we be faced with another pandemic.
COVID-19 did well to prepare the continent for the next major health emergency
Prof Matsabisa will be one of the six panellists for this ministerial session (Session 2: Lessons to guide strengthening of health-product manufacturing in Africa), moderated by Ms Redi Tlhabi. The other panellists will be Hon. Prof Abderrahmane Benbouzid, Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform in Algeria; Hon. Dr Joe Phaahla, Minister of Health, South Africa; Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General, World Trade Organisation; HE Amb. Minata Samate, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, AU; and Mr Emmanuel Mujuru, Chair, Federation of African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations. The session will also be attended by the WHO Director, Dr Ghebreyesus, the WHO Afro Regional Director, Dr Moeti, as well as the presidents and ministers of Togo and Senegal.
Prof Matsabisa says COVID-19 did well to prepare the continent for the next major health emergency, and Africa would now be better suited to deal with such. The meeting in Lomé will share those lessons, which ones worked, why they worked, and learn from those that did not work.
“We cannot, again, be caught off guard and found wanting and be at the mercy of the North for donations and continue to talk about procurement. I will present ways to put in place systems to support the local manufacturing of therapeutics with participation through the African regional economic blocks.”
“I will also ask the ministers to help with three things: first, to ask the ministers and their heads of state and governments to financially support the R&D and local manufacturing of herbal-based therapeutics, as well as support for the clinical research of African traditional medicines. Second, to support the WHO and its partners in the mobilisation of resources for traditional medicines against COVID-19, as well as for other priority diseases. Third will be to inform the ministers that REACT is ready to be the coordinator for the R&D and support for the clinical trials at country level, and to develop a coordinated collaborative approach to the R&D and local manufacturing, including clinical trials.”