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BRUSSELS, 02 February 2024 / PRN Africa / -- Ms. Marie Khemesse Ngom Ndiaye, Minister of Health and Social Action, and Mr. Jean-Marc Pisani, Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Senegal, today inaugurated the African Center for Resilience to Epidemics (CARE) in the presence of Dr Amadou Sall, General Administrator of the Pasteur Institute of Dakar (IPD). CARE will strengthen the role of the IPD as a regional and continental center of excellence for training in biological risk monitoring, epidemic preparedness and response.

This center aims to stimulate research and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the health field. It will help strengthen Senegal's regional and continental leadership in responding to epidemics and contribute to Africa's intrinsic resilience to infectious diseases. Furthermore, this center will train the next generation of decision-makers and front-line responders in Africa by enabling them to acquire cutting-edge skills for data collection and modeling. It’s about anticipating the next health threats.

The construction of CARE is part of LABPLUS AFRICA, a project financed by the European initiative of Centers of Excellence for the reduction of nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical threats aimed at improving the capacities of partner countries to fight against biological risks and ensure greater stability and resilience overall. In line with the European “Global Gateway” strategy and the recovery plan for the pharmaceutical industry in Senegal, the EU is proud to have supported, from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the construction of CARE.

Team Europe is Senegal's first partner in the pharmaceutical sector. The EU, Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are supporting Senegal in its objective of reviving industry and its ambition for local production to the tune of 50 % of needs for health products by 2035. This is the “Global Gateway” spirit of Team Europe: investing in industrialization for the benefit of the population. This concerns in particular the strengthening of skills in the manufacture of biological products and in Research and Development, or even support for private dynamics, and in particular that of the European private sector, thanks to a more investment environment. favorable.

On this occasion, the EU Ambassador declared: “This Center symbolizes the realization of the EU’s commitment to guarantee the right of equitable access to health. It is perfectly complementary to the MADIBA project which will allow Senegal to contribute to the continental ambition of producing vaccines in Africa, for Africa. The EU is proud to participate in strengthening the role of the Pasteur Institute in Dakar as a regional and continental center of excellence for training in biological risk monitoring and epidemic preparedness and response.”

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SOURCE European External Action