Clinical trials to test the efficacy of the first locally manufactured oral cholera vaccine, developed by Biovac, were launched on Tuesday.
It comes in the wake of the 2023 cholera outbreak, which claimed more than 40 lives, mainly in Hammanskraal and surrounding areas of Tshwane.
The initiative marks the start of phase 1 clinical trials to assess whether the new vaccine can effectively prevent cholera infection. The trials, co-ordinated by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), will take place at sites in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Prof Glenda Gray, the SAMRC’s chief scientific officer and a distinguished professor at Wits University’s faculty of health sciences, emphasised the urgent global need for an oral cholera vaccine.
“Today about a billion people worldwide are at risk of cholera. With floods, droughts and other natural disasters disrupting access to clean water, the risk only increases. Having a vaccine will protect people from dying of cholera; that’s why this is so important,” she said.
Building local vaccine manufacturing is not a luxury; it is a mission of necessity. It strengthens our sovereignty, enhances our health security and ensures that our people are never left behind
— Aaron Motsoaledi, health minister
Cholera is spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with the faeces of infected people. Outbreaks often happen in disaster-hit areas or poorer communities lacking proper water and sanitation services.
Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi hailed the launch as a powerful statement of intent, one that seeks to restore South Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity.
“In the past, South Africa had limited capacity to produce vaccines locally, relying heavily on imports from other nations,” he said.
“The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the dangers of this dependence, where access to life-saving vaccines was determined not by need but by geography and global inequities. We are changing that story.
“Building local vaccine manufacturing is not a luxury; it is a mission of necessity. It strengthens our sovereignty, enhances our health security and ensures that our people are never left behind.”
TimesLIVE
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