Hubs to improve health outcomes across the globe

At a meeting on science, technology and health cooperation between the UK and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) held in November, UK Minister for Health and Secondary Care, Will Quince, announced four new hubs that will address challenges of vaccine manufacturing and delivery in developing countries. The meeting included the Secretary General of ASEAN, Dr Kao Kim Hourn and former Minister for Science, Research and Innovation George Freeman.

Communicable disease epidemics are still a major threat to public health globally. They are responsible for half of all deaths in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is estimated that 25 million children are under or unvaccinated. However, vaccines have now been developed for more than 20 life threatening diseases.

The hubs will be led by Imperial College London, University College London, University of Oxford and The University of Sheffield working with experts from across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Together, they will use the lessons from the global rollout of COVID vaccines to improve the processes of manufacture and distribution in LMICs.

The vaccine hubs have received a share of £33 million of UK aid funding via the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and a further £1.5 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).They will be part of the UK Vaccine Network (UKVN) project, which aims to develop vaccines for diseases with epidemic potential in LMICs.

Professor Miles Padgett, Interim Executive Chair of EPSRC, said: “These hubs will improve immunisation in low and middle-income countries by addressing challenges in the way vaccines are made and delivered.

“The Department of Health and Social Care and EPSRC are funding research that tackles large-scale, complex challenges and improves health outcomes across the globe.

UK Health Minister Will Quince, said: “I’m thrilled that the UK is building on its strong working relationship with global researchers by funding these innovative vaccine hubs, which will support partners across Africa and South East Asia to improve vaccine manufacturing capability.

“These innovative partnerships between British universities and vaccine developers – with £33 million of UK aid funding – will ensure vaccines are accessible to everyone in need, and allow us to future-proof health systems both here and abroad by accelerating the availability of new vaccines for future pandemics.”

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