In a united effort to ensure sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa, an IVI delegation, led by Director General Dr. Jerome Kim and Deputy DG Dr. Florian Marks, had an official visit to Ghana from August 28th to 30th, 2023.
During the visit, they engaged in meetings with key organizations such as the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, the National Vaccine Institute, PATH, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (KNUST), as well as esteemed figures like Ghana’s Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Ghana’s Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman Manu, and senior representatives from the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority and DEK Vaccines.
As part of their itinerary, the delegation made a visit to the KNUST-IVI Collaborating Center in Asante Akim Agogo. This center, established in July 2021, marked IVI’s first collaborating center, initiated by IVI to enable joint research, development, and capacity-building activities to achieve regional health objectives as well as the UN’s global goals.
The strong partnership between KNUST and IVI has been nurtured over more than a decade of close research cooperation. Dr. Florian Marks and his team at IVI have collaborated closely with Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo, KNUST Pro-Vice Chancellor, and his team at KNUST. Together, they have undertaken various collaborative projects encompassing disease surveillance, vaccine clinical development, vaccination campaigns, and studies on vaccine effectiveness and health economics for infectious diseases prevalent in the region, such as typhoid and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella.
The true value of this enduring partnership and commitment to local capacity building was evident in the beaming smiles of young Ghanaian researchers working at the KNUST-IVI Collaborating Center, who warmly welcomed IVI’s delegation.
