Lab gets boost to produce quality animal vaccines
The Honorable Minister of Livestock & Fisheries, H E Dr Bocary TRETA, today officially commissioned new equipment and facilities at the animal vaccine production laboratory of the Laboratoire Central Veterinaire (LCV), Bamako. LCV, Bamako is one of eight labs across Africa that have benefited from a €6.9 million investment through the GALVmed-led component of the VACNADA (Vaccines for Control of Neglected Animal Diseases in Africa) project.
The support was provided through the European Union Food Facility, which was launched in 2008 as a rapid response to the food crisis that began that year. The Facility aimed to fill the gap between short-term emergency aid and longer-term development assistance, including through measures to improve access to agricultural inputs and services, with special emphasis on local production facilities.
In January 2009, a team led by the African Union’s Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) was awarded a €20 million grant to implement the VACNADA (Vaccines for Control of Neglected Animal Diseases in Africa) project. The rationale was that long-term food security could be enhanced through reducing the impact of animal disease by increasing access to and use of quality vaccines.
A €6.9 million component of that grant, led by GALVmed (the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines), focused on improving the capacity of eight African labs to make quality vaccines to meet demand for a number of priority neglected livestock diseases.
The LCV, Bamako, which makes a range of animal vaccines for use in Mali and other countries (Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Côte d’Ivore & DRC), received a comprehensive package of support to help it increase the quality and quantity of its vaccines. The package included vital new equipment, refurbishment of facilities, business, management and technical training, market surveys and analysis, and improved quality assurance procedures.
Explaining the impact this has had, Dr. Saidou TEMBELY, Director-General of Laboratoire Central Veterinaire (LCV), Bamako, said:
“At the start of the project the LCV had 3 autoclaves acquired in 1970 when the lab was established but only one of them is still in a satisfactory working order; the main challenge being inability to spare parts because they are not being produced anymore, thanks to support provided through this initiative, these have been replaced with new reliable autoclaves. Similarly, the VACNADA project has replaced the old inefficient bacteriological & virogical incubators, balance and pH meters with modern ones. Not only has the LCV received the aforementioned items but has also received other vital equipment, such as a laminar air flow units, and a large sterilizing oven. Also the support included refurbishment of the clean air system and upgrade of the electrical power supply. Other notable items are the acquisition of a water distiller, a new emergency power generator and a new animal housing. The vaccine business and marketing training received means that we can run the lab as a more effective and sustainable business and also target export markets in neighbouring countries. The vaccine production arm of the LCV is now much better placed to produce the quality vaccines that our livestock-keeping customers need.”
GALVmed’s CEO, Steve Sloan commented:
“We are grateful to The Honorable Minister of Livestock & Fisheries, H E Dr Bocary TRETA for officially recognizing the efforts of the VACNADA programme working alongside the Laboratoire Central Veterinaire, Bamako.
Support provided under the VACNADA project was designed to improve the quality and quantity of vaccines produced and to enable this to be achieved in more efficient ways that meet internationally recognised quality standards and best practices. This was achieved by enhancing human capacity, improving quality assurance and production processes, providing better information on markets, strengthening distribution systems, providing management training and upgrading facilities and equipment. The funding provided through the EU Food Facility was leveraged by GALVmed by brokering additional specialist support from the pharmaceutical industry, notably a team of Zoetis Fellows and vaccine specialists from Ceva Santé Animale.
We much appreciate the commitment to VACNADA that we have received in Mali and wish the Laboratoire Central Veterinaire, Bamako every success in the future.”
Notes for Editors
About GALVmed
GALVmed, the Global Alliance of Livestock Veterinary Medicines, aims to protect livestock and save human lives and livelihoods by making livestock vaccines, diagnostics, and medicines accessible and affordable to the millions in developing countries for whom livestock is a lifeline. GALVmed focuses on neglected diseases of livestock and poultry that impact on the livelihoods of many of the 700 million people who rely on livestock to fund daily needs and for cash in crisis. GALVmed focuses on: Newcastle Disease; Porcine Cysticercosis; Rift Valley Fever; Avian Influenza; African Swine Fever; Classical Swine Fever; Peste des Petits Ruminants; Sheep & Goat Pox; Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia; Hemorrhagic Septicaemia; Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia; East Coast Fever and Trypanosomosis. GALVmed is a UK-based charity with regional offices in Africa and India and is principally funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Government’s Department for International Development.www.galvmed.org