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The 2021 Lancet Commission on diagnostics reported that nearly half of the world’s population has limited access to basic diagnostic services.1 Less than 5% of diagnostics and less than 1% of vaccines used in Africa are produced locally.2 Heavy reliance on external supply is a strategic vulnerability, with consequences magnified during pandemics when global competition for medical countermeasures intensifies. Local manufacturing requires more than technical capacity: it demands policies that shape markets, reduce risk for early movers, and reward quality-assured local production.
