African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF) Strategic Plan, 2018 – 2020: New Plan to Accelerate Product development and Access in Africa
The African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF), initially created by the WHO in 2006 as an informal capacity building platform aimed at improving the regulatory oversight of interventional clinical trials being conducted in Africa, has demonstrated its value in strengthening regulatory and ethics reviews, promoting harmonized standards and approaches and accelerating the review of vaccines of high public health value – most recently in relation to vaccines against Ebola. With the adoption in 2016 of a revised governance structure and the expansion in scope from vaccines only to medical products, the AVAREF Steering Committee agreed on the need to develop a strategic plan to realize the potential of the new operating model, as reflected in the revised terms of reference.
