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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the problematic issues or policy failures which South Africa and Kenya need to address with regards capacity and capability for local manufacturing of innovative MedTech. We unpack the importance of politics for establishing linkages between health and industrial policies.

Paper long abstract

The Covid 19 pandemic revealed the extent of fragility of global value chains for essential MedTech innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of this on health systems has been tremendous. Thousands of deaths could have been avoided if MedTech products such as ventilators and in vitro diagnostics such as rapid lateral flow test kits had been manufactured locally and procured by public and private healthcare providers across the region. In this paper we examine the specific problematic issues or policy failures which South Africa and Kenya governments need to address with regards capacity and capability building for local manufacturing of innovative MedTech. Drawing on empirical evidence, we unpack the importance of politics for establishing linkages between health and industrial policies. We argue that preparedness for the next pandemic depends on political recognition of local MedTech as a key factor for meeting health needs and the advocacy for policies which can remove financial and regulatory barriers for local manufacturing.