Kenya and Japan are enhancing their health partnership by focusing on technology transfer, local manufacturing of health products, and training of health professionals.
The partnership is centered on how the health sector in the country can be strengthened to the extent that it becomes independent and thus access the medical technology it needs.
Oluga spoke during the Second Kenya-Japan Health Sector Joint Technical Working Group Meeting at Afya House, where officials from the Ministry of Health in Kenya met a Japanese delegation led by Ambassador Matsuura Hiroshi.
He outlined the government’s objective of scaling up the production of health products such as medicine, vaccines, and medical devices locally.
This objective is part of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which aim to ensure that every Kenyan accesses health services without any financial challenges.
The talks were about health innovations happening in Kenya and institutions driving health research and development of health technology.
The Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) is one institution that has been driving health research and technology development in Kenya.
The government is also investing in vaccine production through the Kenya BioVax Institute. The country is a member of the World Health Organization’s and Medicines Patent Pool’s global mRNA technology transfer program to help countries develop capabilities to produce vaccines locally.
Officials from both countries stated that the health sector cooperation will enhance Kenya’s health sector and health security on the continent. Kenya and Japan have agreed to continue cooperating on joint research, training programs, and the expansion of pharmaceutical manufacturing to foster more resilient and sustainable health systems..
