Late last year Prime Minister Mia Mottley advised the country after one of her jaunts that a deal was in the making with the Rwandan Government to establish a pharmaceutical industry in the region, the first of its kind. Mottley further updated that the Rwandan Food and Drug Administration and the Barbados Drug Service and Ministry of Health and Wellness had started discussions to advance the matter.
See Related Link: Prime Minister Strikes Major Pharmaceutical Deal With Rwanda
A few days ago Chief Medical Officer The Most Honourable Dr Kenneth George was quoted in the media as saying Barbados was, “considering the possibility of establishing local vaccine manufacturing capabilities in response to the challenges brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic”. He explained the Covid 19 pandemic had exposed an inequity with Small Island Developing States (SIDS) unable to access the vaccine therefore compromising the ability of public health authorities to protect vulnerable members of the public.
See Related Link: Barbados Explores Vaccine Manufacturing to Address Post-Pandemic Challenges
Right thinking Barbadians welcome the bold initiative proposed to establish a pharmaceutical industry in the region and out of the process manufacture vaccines to provide easy access for people of the region. The blogmaster’s concern about the idea- which it is at this stage – is the robustness of the environment to ensure success of the project. Barbados and a majority of countries in the region struggle with implementing and maintaining basic projects. From all reports managing a pharmaceutical industry is a complicated affair notwithstanding technical support promised by Rwanda and others.
Our tertiary level institutions have not established a reputation for research work. How many opportunities have we missed to have pioneered the solar water-heating project? We are a region known for a high prevalence of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), what have we done to learn about how NCDs impact the regional population?
The question on the lips of many is what robust research is being conducted by The Most Honorable Dr. Kenneth George, University of the West Indies and related parties to assuage the concerns being raised in many quarters in the global community about the lack of post Covid 19 analysis, especially as it pertains to excess Covid 19 deaths. A family member recently forwarded the following question, “HOW MANY EXCESS DEATHS HAVE OCCURRED IN BARBADOS?. It has the accompanying note,
Has the Ministry of Health in partnership with other “NON-PROFITS” done any type of research to show whether there has been a “POPULATION DECLINE” in Barbados, and if so, by how much? …
I believe this is a story of “PUBLIC INTEREST” given what is occurring in the UK, US, Canada & elsewhere – with personal resonance given to Barbados, as this is our homeland and the findings should be a cause for concern…
BU family member
The following table exposes Barbados for the lack of data available for external parties to apply robust analysis. How can we be serious about entering the complex world of manufacturing drugs, vaccines and there is a weak culture of data gathering and analysis?
See link to rough mortality numbers associated with Covid 19.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.