Minister of Health and Wellness, Senator Dr. The Most Honourable Jerome Walcott, has described the handover of Barbados’ own Biopharma White Book by BioPharma-Excellence as a significant achievement.
The “White Book”, as it is commonly called, was yesterday presented to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St. Michael, in the presence of several health officials, including members of the Barbados Drug Service, and representatives of Biopharma-Excellence.
Mr. Walcott, who noted that the White Book was the convergence of a series of strategic activities started more than a year ago, remarked: “Today is a very special day for Barbados and its Pan-African and Caribbean partnership in the area of health development. It is a key milestone in our biopharma project, the genesis of which was about two years ago, at a time when I had responsibility for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
“At that time, our Prime Minister, along with the President of the Republic of Rwanda and the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, met to discuss how the Caribbean and Africa could ensure that the vaccine apartheid, which our respective regions experienced during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, would not happen again for us.”
While noting that the country’s foray into this field was not an accident, the Health Minister acknowledged it was the result of the vision which Prime Minister Mottley has for Barbados to become a global leader and hub for value-added goods and services.
Mr. Walcott emphasised that Government felt it would be in the public’s interest to put measures in place proactively to provide for the wellbeing of citizens in the event of future pandemics, while at the same time stimulating economic activity and creating employment opportunities.
Further tracing the history of the Biopharma White Book, the Health Minister revealed that from early discussions, it was recognised that if Barbados and Guyana were to get involved in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, to meet the needs of the populations of the two regions, they would have to be compliant with the requirements of the international organisations that have responsibility for overseeing the food and drug regulatory authorities across the globe.
“This White Book presents for each country, a gap analysis of what must be done, to create the enabling environment for regulation, in the pharmaceutical industry. Our White Book delineates Barbados’ strategic pathway toward the establishment of a robust regulatory agency for pharmaceutical products. This body of work is critical in our pursuit of pharmaceutical self-reliance and enhancing public health standards within our nation,” he explained.
It was noted that on November 8, 2022, Prime Minister Mottley, along with Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali and the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, signed a historic Communique on the development of pharmaceuticals for global public health, and their end-to-end production in the Caribbean and Latin America, supported by a “transatlantic bridge” between Africa and the region.
Health Minister Walcott, in thanking all contributors, acknowledged the island’s White Book was the outcome of extensive research and efforts by Biopharma-Excellence, led by Dr. Michael Pfleiderer, who, along with his team, produced the final document.
Other collaborators, he added, included the Barbados Pharmaceutical Programme and the Barbados Drug Service, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the University of the West Indies, Invest Barbados, Export Barbados and several other critical stakeholders.
He also acknowledged the offer of technical assistance to the Barbados Pharmaceutical Programme made by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and stressed PAHO continues to be a significant partner for Barbados in its delivery of health services.