As leaders around the world race to catch up to this disease, policymakers in Kenya have an opportunity to not only respond to the current crisis, but also to invest in health security infrastructure that includes a suite of tools to prevent future pandemics.
Kenya has been a leader among African states in making strong commitments to research and development (RD) for health products; however, those commitments have not always been followed up with the funding necessary to bring them into action.
As we think about how to meet the current need and respond to future pandemics, Kenya must deliver on past promises by investing in health RD and strengthening regulatory systems to allow for rapid deployment of new medicines, diagnostic tools, therapeutics, and vaccines.
Equally, to strengthen regulatory systems, Kenya should sign the Africa Medicines Agency treaty that would nurture standardization of evaluation and streamline the speedy introduction of products into the market.
To drive forward Kenya’s readiness to address pandemics such as Covid-19, we strongly recommend that the government takes the following crucial actions:
Parliament, the Treasury, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health must work together to effectively and progressively fund health research; including investing in research for product development, supporting clinical trials, strengthening local manufacturing, and ensuring support for scale-up of proven products.
