The Regional Centre of Excellence(RCE) for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain located in Rwamagana, a district in eastern Rwanda, has secured $17million in funding from Germany.
The funding is dedicated to the expansion in digitalization of health supply chain management, cold-chain management, quality control, and drug safety, an official statement on Tuesday said.
Among other mission of the centre is to build the capacity and understanding of vaccines by university students, vaccine storages, but also with long plans for vaccine manufacturing in the country.
This financial allocation is part of the immunization funds ($30mllion) that is expected to finance the procurement of at least four different types of vaccines (Pentavalent, Rotavirus, Pneumococcal, and Measles second dose), to be made available for routine immunization and immunization campaigns for children in all six member states of the East African Community.
The funding agreement was signed by East African Community (EAC) Secretary-General, Dr. Peter Mathuki and Regine Hess, Ambassador of Germany in Arusha- Tanzania.
The new funding is an addition to the 10 million euro used for the construction of the institution, funded by KfW Bankengruppe, a German state-owned development bank, based in Frankfurt, last year.
According to the EAC’s document, Germany will commit additional funds of up to $6.6 million for COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and response in 2021.
It is to be implemented through the existing EAC-German program on pandemic preparedness, economic integration, and digital skills.
CU/as/APA