Kenyan Health Minister Nakhumicha Meets IVI Director General Jerome Kim

Kenya’s bid to start manufacturing of human vaccines, biotherapeutics and diagnostics got a significant boost on Monday following a meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Dr Nakhumicha S. Wafula and the International Vaccines Institute Director General Dr Jerome Kim.

The meeting, which was held at Afya House in Nairobi, comes a few months after Kenya formally presented her letter of intent to join the International Vaccine Institute as a state party.

The letter was presented by Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Alfred Mutua and witnessed by president William Ruto and CS Health, Dr Nakhumicha, in Seul, South Korea, in November 2022.

The Kenya Biovax Institute, a state cooperation mandated with manufacturing specialised health products, including vaccines and therapeutics, is set to kick-start the manufacturing process in earnest.

The CS and her guest explored ways that the IVI and Kenya’s Biovax Institute will work together to ensure that Biovax’s mandate is achieved.

The areas explored included research, partnerships in product development, capacity building of the local workforce through trainings, technical assistance and technology transfers.

The IVI Director General, Dr Jerome Kim, was impressed with Kenya’s progress in ensuring the local manufacturing of health products and technologies is actualized.

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