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WHO Director General Speeches [selected]
https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches
Selected
11 February 2022
Speech
WHO Director-General’s remarks at mRNA Technology Transfer Hub – 11 February 2022
[Excerpt]
…One of the most obvious lessons of the pandemic, therefore, is the urgent need to increase local production of vaccines, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
That’s why, in April last year, WHO issued a call for expressions of interest for establishing a technology transfer hub for mRNA vaccines.
The turnout of applications was high but South Africa was chosen and established here in South Africa, as a partnership between WHO, Afrigen Biologics, the Biologicals and Vaccines Institute of Southern Africa, or Biovac, the South African Medical Research Council, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Medicines Patent Pool.
We very much appreciate the strong support for the hub from Belgium, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany and Norway.
And it’s already producing results, with Afrigen’s announcement last week that it has produced its own mRNA vaccine, based on publicly available information about the composition of an existing vaccine. And the mrNA technology is not just for COVID. It will be for malaria, TB and HIV – it will be a game changer.
We expect this vaccine to be more suited to the contexts in which it will be used, with fewer storage constraints and at a lower price.
The Medicines Patent Pool will manage the intellectual property, and where necessary issue licences to manufacturers.
Once a vaccine has been successfully developed, other manufacturers from around the world will be able to produce the vaccine for national and regional use. Many of the countries that have asked to serve as a hub will become a spoke, and there will be a network of institutions working together.
We expect clinical trials to start in the fourth quarter of this year, with approval expected in 2024.
Spokes in other countries receiving the technology should be able to receive approval shortly thereafter.
I congratulate Afrigen on this achievement, and WHO looks forward to supporting you as you take this vaccine candidate into clinical trials and beyond…

9 February 2022
Speech
WHO Director-General’s remarks at the ACT Accelerator Advocacy Event – 9 February 2022

7 February 2022
Speech
WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the signing ceremony for the MoU between WHO and the Commonwealth Secretariat – 7 February 2022

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Status of COVID-19 Vaccines within WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process 23 December 2021
[Full scale view available at title link above]
[No change from 23 December 2021]