{
  "id": 2328288,
  "title": "Turn research into medicines, vaccines – Health Minister urges researchers to go beyond laboratories",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/turn-research-into-medicines-vaccines-health-minister-urges",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-21T07:17:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Ghanaian Times",
    "slug": "ghanaian-times",
    "url": "https://ghanaiantimes.com.gh/turn-research-into-medicines-vaccines-health-minister-urges-researchers-to-go-beyond-laboratories/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ghana's Health Minister has urged researchers to shift from depending on imported medicines and vaccines to establishing a robust local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh believes producing essential medicines and vaccines within the country is a national health security imperative. The call came during the Research Meets Manufacturing award ceremony in Accra, where eight research projects received grants under the PharmaVax Ghana program. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the risks of relying on other countries for critical health products, particularly vaccines. Ghana should learn from the pandemic experience by developing the capacity to meet a significant portion of its health needs locally. Mr Akandoh emphasized that health sovereignty means having strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships that provide technology, expertise, financing, and knowledge while strengthening local capacity. The government is committed to strengthening the pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem through research funding, technology transfer, regulatory reforms, skilled human resources, financing, and procurement arrangements. The true measure of the PharmaVax initiative will be the number of research projects that transition into commercially viable products. Increased local production would strengthen the economy by reducing foreign exchange needs, creating jobs, and decreasing vulnerability to external supply disruptions. The EU and Germany are supporting Ghana's ambitious goal of becoming a pharmaceutical hub for West Africa.",
  "summary": "The Minister of Health, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has called for an urgent shift from Ghana’s dependence on imported medicines and vaccines to a strong local pharmaceutical manufacturing system. He said the country’s ability to produce essential medicines and vaccines locally was no longer simply an industrial ambition but a national health security imperative. Mr. … The post Turn research into…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}