Brussels, 22 June 2022
At the European Development Days, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, launched today a new European Union – Latin America and Caribbean partnership on local manufacturing of vaccines, medicines and other health technologies, and strengthening health systems resilience that will complement and further enhance social, economic and scientific ties between the two regions. It will boost Latin America’s manufacturing capacity, foster equitable access to quality, effective, safe and affordable health products and help strengthen health resilience in the region to tackle endemic and emerging diseases, and enhance capacities to cope with non-communicable diseases.
President von der Leyen said:
“Europe and Latin America are solid allies with strong historical, commercial, economic and social ties. Under the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy we are deepening our cooperation even further in the vital area of healthcare. I believe in the transformative power of this partnership that connects the talent and innovation of the New Continent with the strengths of the EU. Investment in health is an investment in prosperity and wellbeing”.
Prime Minister Sánchez highlighted:
“The war in Ukraine shows us that not everyone shares our values and principles. Therefore, we must walk together with other regions with which we do share them, and do so hand in hand, using our understanding as a source of global transformation. The initiative we are launching today is a European recognition of the needs of Latin America and the Caribbean and an example of the European Union’s willingness to renew the way it engages with the region”.
Building smart and sustainable connections for health
The initiative, which is developed and will be implemented together with a broad range of LAC partners, will support ongoing regional efforts, including the Plan for self-sufficiency in health matters, endorsed by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in September 2021, which sets out lines of action to strengthen capacities to produce and distribute vaccines and medicines in the region.
The partnership will follow a comprehensive approach similar to theTeam Europe initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa, covering supply, demand and an enabling environment for sustainability. It will focus on continent-wideactions with potential to underpin systems and drive change on:
- Private-sector engagement, supply chains and finance for manufacturing capacity
- Technology transfer, research and innovation
- Regulatory frameworks and the enabling environment
These actions may soon be complemented with additional support at regional and country level.
The partnership represents an opportunity to pursue public health goals, stimulate growth and decent jobs in both regions, bring in private sector innovation, facilitate trade, diversify global value chains, and reinforce scientific, diplomatic and human bonds between Europe and Latin America.
Background
As discussed at the EU-LAC leaders meeting in December 2021, diversification of global pharmaceutical production is essential for global health security and the European Union is keen to contribute to the success of Latin American pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech industries in an ecosystem conducive to ensuring equitable access to quality products.
The Commission will closely engage with Latin American partners, EU Member States, international organisations such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the private sector. A number of EU Member States, led by Spain, have indicated their interest in joint activities under this partnership.
More Information and speech of EU Commission President von der Leyen:
EU-Latin America and Caribbean leaders’ meeting 2 December 2021
Statement by President von der Leyen with Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez
Dear Prime Minister, dear Pedro,
I am very glad to see you here. This is a very special moment we have, because today is a real landmark in relations between the European Union and Latin American and Caribbean countries. Because we are launching a new partnership for vaccines and medicines made in Latin America, for Latin Americans, with world-class technology. We have learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic that we can rely on each other. The European Union is the world’s largest exporter of COVID-19 vaccines. For instance, we shipped 237 million doses to Latin American and Caribbean countries. We are also together a leading donor. The European Union donated 475 million doses to our partners across the world through COVAX. But we all know that vaccination is helping us to exit the pandemic – slowly but surely – but we must now step up the work to prepare better against future pandemics. For this, each country, and each region has to ramp up its own capacity to manufacture and to administer vaccines. And this is what brings us here today. The health partnership that we are launching today together will create stronger, more resilient health systems in Latin America. It will have three different building blocks.
The first one is: we want to get the private sector from both sides into the game. We will need significant investments to strengthen the vaccines manufacturing capacities and supply chains. This is why we will organise match-making events between the European Union and Latin American businesses, starting this autumn, so that they get to know each other. And we are working together on new financial mechanisms, of course to support these investments in health and pharmaceuticals in the region.
The second pillar is on sharing knowledge and technologies. That is very important. We will build bridges between our universities, our research centres and our scientists. They will work together, for example, under our very important research and innovation programme Horizon Europe. So Horizon Europe will be the bridge between the researchers and the universities from both sides. So we will have joint health research projects, supported by EU funds.
And the third pillar is very important for the manufacturing of vaccines, that is to create a robust regulatory environment. So that we are sure that it is conducive for the business sector and that we are sure that the vaccines that are produced are healthy, safe and effective. And therefore, we step up our cooperation between the different agencies. We have three here. The first one is the European Medicines Agency, the name is EMA; the second is the European Centre for Disease Control, ECDC; and our third one is the Health Preparedness Authority, HERA. These three agencies are absolutely crucial for a regulatory environment and they will link with our Latin American partners.
My last point is on funding. We are supporting this partnership with important investments. Together with partners such as the Inter-American Development Bank, Team Europe is investing EUR 890 million in health projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. It includes important contributions from actors such as the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation. And of course more will come. We are currently defining our financial support to the biotech sector in Cuba and Mexico. And we are exploring options for support in Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Colombia.
So today is an important day, it is just the beginning of a very fruitful cooperation between our regions, with many success stories made in Latin America and the Caribbean with the support of the European Union.
Thank you very much.
Source – EU Commission