World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus today visited the groundbreaking mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in Cape Town and also met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss progress in making Africa self-sufficient in the production of COVID-19 vaccines and related treatments.

The WHO Chief and the Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation Ms Meryame Kitir are on a two-day visit to various vaccine-related sites around Cape Town.

The two-day visit serves to showcase South Africa's capacity and infrastructure in the development of vaccines for current and potentially new strains of COVID-19, and to highlight how manufacturing in South Africa is a critical contribution to the continent's response to COVID-19.

Dr Tedros paid a visit to President Ramaphosa to engage with him, in his capacity as the African Union COVID-19 Champion, and commended South Africa's capability in this regard and welcomed President Ramaphosa's continued commitment, as AU COVID-19 Champion, to vaccine equity at the global level, and to securing vaccines for Africa as the continent with the least access to this form of protection.

President Ramaphosa has welcomed this oversight visit by the World Health Organization as an opportunity to profile the depth of intellectual and technological capacity on the African continent, and the integrity with which intellectual property is being leveraged to enable vaccine production in Africa.