Dr. Ernest Tambo

The recent 78th United Natiions General Assembly (UNGA) declaration relaunched a new health priority and political commitment in accelerating Universal Health Coverage (UHC), adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 and are intended to be met by 2030. At mid-way point of UHC implementation, we advocate for the much needed programmatic implementation research, evidence-based interventions (EBIs) policies and strategies leadership and management capacity building to enable robust, resilient and sustainable multi-sectoral partnerships, integrated coordination and governance mechanisms capabilities in accelerating UHC package mainly infectious diseases of poverty elimination and eradication agenda.

Public health pharmacology (PHP) is an emerging interdisciplinary field that integrates pharmacological principles with public health strategies to optimize therapeutic outcomes at the population level. This perspective examines its rationale, significance, and potential impact in addressing pressing healthcare challenges such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), adverse drug reactions (ADRs), medication access disparities, and chronic disease management. Through a narrative review of existing literature and expert consultations, we explore PHP's distinct role in complementing allied disciplines while addressing systemic gaps in healthcare delivery. This perspective suggests that public health pharmacology could enhance population health and equity outcomes by addressing health disparities and global one health challenges, strengthening pharmacovigilance, and improving the quality and supply of medical products.

Background: Little is documented on key community-based One Health (OH) approach implementation, pro-activeness and effectiveness of interactions and strategies against Mpox outbreak public health emergency in international concern (PHEIC) in various African countries in order to stamp out the persisting Mpox outbreak threat and burden. Prioritizing critical community-based interventions and lessons learned from previous COVID-19, Mpox, Ebola, COVID-19, Rift Valley Fever and Marburg virus outbreaks revealed critical shortcomings in funding, surveillance, and community engagement that plague public health initiatives across the continent. The article provides critical insights and benefits of community-based One Health approaches implementation against Mpox outbreak management in Africa. Main body: Our findings provides a comprehensive community and primary healthcare systems strategies essential to foster community engagement and resilience, while addressing the social determinants of health. Investing in targeted, effective and contextual community-based OH strategies implementation shows to improve immediate vulnerable communities integrated (human,animal and environment) preparedness and response and building sustainable resilience strategies against Mpox and future emergencies threats. The importance of global and regional multi-sectorial collaboration, solidarity and coordination cannot be over-emphasized, to mobilize resource, sharing knowledge and successes in enhancing local OH anticipatory and ownership programs capabilities for equitably shared benefits. Timely strengthening community empowerment and national health systems last miles, WASH and vaccination activities are essential to control, contain and sustainable recovery from the ongoing Mpox outbreak and future crises. Tackling survivors and at high risk affected populations stigma, fear and misinformation surrounding Mpox those hinder effective health communication and disease management, highlighting the need for culturally sensitive educational and empowerment strategies. A comprehensive assessment community-based one-health approaches implementation was performed to understand and prioritize key data-driven community-based OH strategies in infectious disease outbreaks beyond. Leveraging on outbreak valuable lessons learned and emerging technologies benefits in addressing the health social determinants, optimizing Mpox PHEIC implemented programs capabilities efforts, building communities resilience and sustainable solutions, and prioritizing strategies against outbreaks/pandemics threats and burden. Conclusions: Catalyzing evidence-based community-based OH governance, leadership and domestic financing commitment serve as a critical engine connecting all stakeholders in prioritizing and optimizing unprecedented outbreaks threats preparedness and response initiatives implementation and upholding global health security returns.

While Africa continent has high potential due to its large and youthful population, manufacturing remains underdeveloped, with only 2% of global manufactured goods originating from Africa. Inadequate and unreliable infrastructure is one of the most critical barriers to manufacturing implementation and broad growth. Little is documented on biomanufacturing readiness and supply chain systems performance and robustness that are essential for safe and efficacious vaccines, medicine and other diagnostic products. This review article highlights biopharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chain management regulatory ecosystem and engagement, workforce and infrastructure capacities implementation strategies. Findings showed that pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa is a rapidly growing, strategic focus for health sovereignty, aiming to shift from importing over 99% of its vaccines to producing 60% locally by 2040 through massive workforce development, strategic partnerships, and targeted investments. This review article highlights the biomanufacturing regulatory ecosystem and policies implementation to targeted capacity building strategies in enhancing sustainable production and supply chain systems resilience, efficiency and access and uptake effectiveness for economic growth and well-being, Addressing implementation barriers and knowledge gaps is crucial in harnessing and fast-tracking vaccines and medical products scale production and wide availability against preventable infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases among under-served and vulnerable populations across Africa and global south. Findings revealed that key barriers and challenges include a shortage of skilled labor, complex and inconsistent regulatory environments, inadequate and unreliable infrastructure like geopolitics power increasing operational costs and limits production, fragmented markets, transportation, inefficient roads and ports, which drives up freight costs and causes significant supply chain management bottlenecks, and limited allocation domestic finance. Key strategies in national and regional diversification of manufacturing are highlighted to significantly impact socio-economic growth by fostering innovation, creating jobs, and enabling sustainable production of various goods. Advancing biomanufacturing basic and advanced research to industrial-scale production and sustainability approaches. Africa’s development and transformation relies on biomanufacturing actionable outcomes which is crucial for a thriving bioeconomy immense opportunities driven by the Africa Union Platform for Harmonized African Health products Manufacturing (PHAHM) to build capacity for vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. This calls for the urgent need for integration and sustainability drivers and evidence-based biomanufacturing policies and regulations, productivity and economic development strategies. Fostering public-private biomanufacturing partnerships and co-investment actions plans. Boosting integrative vaccines biomanufacturing national regulatory and ethics engagement, licensure pathways and hamonized reliance approaches through advancing data sharing and standard practice for programmatic vaccine biomanufacturing decision-making and resilience across borders. Data-driven and evidence-informed decisions safe and effective biomedical products development, scale production, availability,low-cost and uptake compliance have shown signifficant global and public health benefits and returns impact. Biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biotechnologies skilled workforce development and programmatic plans including risk mitigation and supply chain capabilities across Africa have potential social and pubic health impact and driving “the Africa w Want”, while addressing manufacturing regulatory processes and high cost investment and global supply chain complexities and vulnerabilities issues and gaps is core across Africa and worldwide.