Communiqué: Ministerial Roundtable on Accelerating Lassa Fever Vaccine Readiness
On 8 September 2025, Ministers of Health from across West Africa gathered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for a Ministerial Roundtable on Accelerating the Development of the IAVI Lassa Fever Vaccine, held under the umbrella of the ECOWAS Lassa Fever International Conference.
Alongside health ministers, the roundtable which was supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), brought together partners to discuss the urgent need for a Lassa fever vaccine. The disease kills over 4,000 people annually, and with climate change driving its spread, up to 700 million people could be at risk in the nearest future.
Ministers reaffirmed their political commitment to accelerating vaccine readiness and emphasised the following priorities:
Mobilising national, regional, and international resources through joint financing mechanisms.
Strengthening laboratory capacity, clinical trial infrastructure, and regulatory systems.
Ensuring that investments in Lassa fever vaccine readiness contribute to broader pandemic preparedness.
This reflects West Africa’s collective effort to deliver a safe and effective Lassa fever vaccine while building stronger, more resilient health systems.
Read full communique - https://bit.ly/lasfevvacred