Representatives of the Steering Committee Presidency and the Executive Secretariat of the Global Coalition for Local and Regional Production, Innovation and Equitable Access presented the coalition’s first international call for proposals, focused on dengue, during an information session with ambassadors and diplomatic representatives in Brasília on May 12.
Participants included representatives from the European Union, United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Africa, China, Indonesia, Russia and Türkiye.
The meeting was opened, chaired and moderated by Igor Bueno, Director of the Department of the Health Economic-Industrial Complex at Brazil’s Ministry of Health, representing Fernanda De Negri, Secretary of Science, Technology, Innovation and the Health Economic-Industrial Complex at Brazil’s Ministry of Health. Click here for all photos.
Opening the session on behalf of Brazil’s Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, Marise Nogueira, Head of the Special Advisory for International Affairs at the Ministry of Health, highlighted the coalition’s origins during Brazil’s G20 presidency in 2024 and its formal launch during the World Health Assembly in Geneva in 2025.
She emphasized that strengthening local and regional production of health technologies is essential to reducing inequalities in access, particularly for neglected diseases and persons in vulnerable populations, and stressed that international cooperation is critical to achieving these goals.
Nogueira also presented the coalition’s governance structure, based on transparency, shared responsibility and voluntary multistakeholder cooperation.
The initiative is organized around three main bodies – the Steering Committee, Advisory Committee and Executive Secretariat – bringing together governments, international organizations and global health partners to advance equitable access to health technologies.
Dengue call for proposals
The coalition’s first call for proposals focuses on dengue and seeks to support collaborative initiatives aimed at strengthening local and regional production capacities, innovation and access to health technologies in developing countries.
The initiative represents one of the coalition’s first concrete actions to translate political commitments into practical cooperation projects.
Marco Nascimento, Deputy Vice-President of Production and Innovation in Health at Fiocruz and General-Coordinator of the Executive Secretariat of the Global Coalition for Local and Regional Production, Innovation and Equitable Access, said the meeting aimed to engage diplomatic missions from member countries ahead of the World Health Assembly in Geneva and strengthen international support for the coalition’s initiatives.
Nascimento also highlighted that the coalition’s first call for proposals, focused on dengue, will remain open until July 1.
According to him, the selected initiatives will move into an implementation phase aimed at transforming proposals into concrete cooperation projects capable of strengthening local and regional production, innovation and equitable access to health technologies in developing countries.
Lessons from the pandemic
Igor Barbosa, Head of the Global Health Division at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted Brazil’s production capacity through institutions linked to the Unified Health System (SUS) and stressed the importance of expanding cooperation to address health challenges affecting developing countries.
He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the strategic importance of local and regional production of vaccines, diagnostics and other health technologies, demonstrating the need for stronger international partnerships.
The information session was held at Brazil’s Ministry of Health headquarters in Brasília.
One-year milestone in Geneva
The coalition’s founding members are Brazil, the European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. Additional members now include the African Union, China and Russia.
According to the coalition, the initiative aims to strengthen innovation, production and equitable access to health technologies through collaborative action among governments and partners.
The coalition will mark its first anniversary during a high-level event on May 19 on the margins of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
The event will highlight progress achieved during the coalition’s first year and discuss future initiatives, including the dengue call for proposals.
Find out more about the call for proposals at: https://globalcoalitionforlocalproduction.org/projects.
