Africa CDC: health economics is the key for COVID-19 vaccines distribution

Curbing the pandemic while protecting access to essential health services requires an ample supply of vaccines, a functioning, well-funded delivery system, and careful planning. With strained budgets, supply shortages, and resource allocation problems, policymakers face new challenges in setting priorities and allocating limited resources effectively amid the COVID-19 crisis.

With over 8.5 million COVID-19 cases in Africa but vaccination rates below 5%, stakeholders across the continent face an arduous task to implement an equitable and effective COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The Health Economics Unit (HEU) at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) was launched in collaboration with the Center for Global Development (CGD) to facilitate evidence-based priority-setting during the pandemic and beyond.

Africa CDC, the Center for Global Development (CGD), and the African Health Economics Association (AHEA) hosted this virtual event to discuss HEU measures to facilitate evidence-based prioritization of pandemic strategies. Policymakers and researchers examined methods for meeting the African Union’s goal of vaccinating 60 percent of the continent’s population, balancing economic and epidemiological priorities, and learning from Africa’s COVID-19 response to date.

Policymakers and other stakeholders also listened to talks, presentations, and discussions from leaders and scientists that championed a unified message, ‘we must do things using evidence.’ Some keynote speakers were:

• Donald Kaberuka. Former President of the African Development Bank and current chair of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

  “African countries had fallen behind developed countries in achieving vaccination targets because of a combination of factors: supply shortages occurred during the initial phases of the global vaccine rollout, and inefficacies in delivery systems. Although an increase in African-based vaccine manufacturing has been a positive development, Africa must use these lessons in preparing for future pandemics.”

• Maddalena Ferranna. Vaccination Research Network (VoVRN) – VoVRN’s project on modeling the full social and economic value of vaccination

  “A fast rollout of COVID-19 vaccination saved the most lives with the least severe impact on the economy. Additionally, prioritizing vaccinating older adults also averted the most deaths while still cushioning blows to the economy.”

The event ended with a panel discussion featuring technical experts and advisers from several African countries who discussed the on-the-ground experiences and challenges they have faced thus far during the vaccine rollout. They agreed that the key message was that health economics must be part of the decision-making process for those involved in COVID-19 vaccine allocation.