Korede Abdullah in Lagos
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has announced funding of up to $9.9 million for a landmark vaccine safety project led by the Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN).
The project, titled “Background Rates of Adverse Events for Vaccine Evaluation in Africa,” aims to generate baseline data on naturally occurring clinical events, such as Guillain-Barré Syndrome and sensorineural hearing loss, across multiple African research sites.
According to CEPI’s Director of Clinical Development, Jakob Cramer, “Having this newly formed network in place will help contextualise any adverse events reported in clinical trials and will ultimately enable timely evidence generation of vaccine safety during public health responses in Africa.”
Cramer emphasized the importance of this initiative, which will provide region-specific benchmarks for adverse events occurring without medical intervention in African populations.
Africa Health Report gathered that, African countries have relied on vaccine safety data generated in the Global North over the years, which may not account for the unique ways African populations respond to infections and vaccinations.
GVDN Co-Director, Dr. Steven Black, underscored the project’s significance, noting, “With this collaboration, the GVDN will be helping provide data to assure vaccines used in Africa are both safe and effective.”
The project will leverage Gavi’s vaccine safety surveillance platform and initially apply the data to CEPI-supported Lassa fever vaccines under development.
Prof. Stephen Obaro, Co-Founder of the International Foundation Against Infectious Diseases (Nigeria), emphasized the broader impact of the work.
“Investing in generating data from Africa is crucial for improving our scientific understanding of vaccine value and performance in the context of local disease epidemiology and potential adverse events following their use.”, Professor Obaro stated.
