NBA APPROVES HIV VACCINE TRIALS

 ZAMBIA  APPROVES HIV VACCINE TRIALS

....As the Authority issues 39 GMO Permits

Lackson Tonga -NBA CEO


By Alfonso Kasongo

Zambia has approved a clinical trial of an HIV vaccine to be undertaken by the Centre for Family Health Research in Zambia (CFHRZ),country's biosafety regulator has  announced.

The National Biosafety Authority (NBA) Board ,during its extra ordinary meeting held last week, approved the vaccine trial permit application for CFHRZ. The experimental medicine vaccine trial will be administered to People Living with HIV (PLWH).

With over 1.3 million people living with HIV (PLHIV), Zambia, the  southern African  nation is one of the countries most affected by HIV globally and the pandemic is the leading cause of death in country.

The country has an estimate HIV prevalence of about 11 % between the ages of 15-49,this is according to CDC 2022 report.

According to  the press statement released by the Authority communication officer  Sandra Lombe ,NBA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lackson Tonga says the permit granted to CFHRZ is for conducting research trials in Zambia and is valid for three years.

“The Scientific Advisory Committee of the NBA conducted a risk assessment and concluded that the vaccine poses low risks to human health, animals and the environment. The NBA will also monitor the research trial,” he said.

And the NBA last year issued 39 permits for products which may contain GMOs. Of these, seven where for imports while the rest were for placing the GMO products on the market.

In the same period the NBA granted 52 Transit Permits compared to 64 in 2023. 

About 190,237metric tons of mealie meal which may contain GMOs transited Zambia in 2024, mostly, to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The NBA issued 66 non-genetically modified organism certificates to companies exporting various grain commodities.

Mr. Tonga said the NBA also recorded non compliances which led to seizure and destruction of

some products which may contain GMOs among these include mealie meal and some soups.

The products found themselves on the Zambia market without prior authorization from the NBA.

“We saw a decrease in the number of new permits granted last year. This could be due to the companies granted import permits the previous year, coming through to only renew permits for placing on the markets. Import permits are valid for five years while the placing on the market is renewed every six months.” he said.

“The National Biosafety Authority intensified on spot checks throughout the country. In the same vein, the Authority collected 152 samples for agriculture produce and products for testing and all were non GMO. We also conducted 20 surveillances of which compliance levels were at 80%.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ZAAB QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL

Image
  ZAAB QUESTIONS  GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL  By Alfonso Kasongo  A collaborative network of concerned citizens, civil society groups, faith and farmer-based organisations, working together to strengthen the growing movement for agroecology and food sovereignty has questioned government's failure to avail the proposed new Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Bill.  Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) maintains that controversial Bill is inappropriate for the country and must not be enacted as it aligns the country to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 standards. The Consortium fears that once proposed PBR Bill is enacted in its current form, the new seed law may trigger price increase and corporate capture of seeds, as well as  country's food system.  The Alliance argues that government through the Seed Control  Certification Institute SCCI  has never presented the actual changes...
Read more

ZAMBIA LISTED AMONG 34 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE THAT EXPERIENCED DIGITAL AUTHORITATIVE RULE

Image
  By Alfonso Kasongo  The shutdown of internet to block access to social media during the 2021 general election has earned Zambia a slot among 34 countries worldwide that experienced digital authoritative rule last year. According to a research conducted by Keep It On ,182 internet shutdowns from 34 countries were last year recorded and are documented. Sadly 19 of the 34 countries are African countries, an indication of the return of the digital authoritatism. The report  discloses that the Zambian authorities shutdown the Internet during the the tight 2021 general election to block access to social media platforms which  include among others WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   The report however ,suggests that the country experienced digital authoritative rule which undermined the democracy of the country.    It further notes with pleasure that the shut down was fought swiftly by Chapter One Foundation through the court of law and that the Hi...
Read more

ZAMBIA 2022 SCIENCE CONFERENCE ON TOMORROW

Image
  ZAMBIA 2022 SCIENCE CONFERENCE ON TOMORROW   ....with focus on climate-smart energy, agriculture technologies and green energy potentials for the country.  By Alfonso Kasongo   Zambia through the  National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL)  is tomorrow hosting the 2022 Zambia Science Conference and SASSCAL Energy and Climate Change Dialogue in Lusaka. The 3 day conference which is expected to take place from November 22nd – 24th, 2022, at Mulungushi International Conference Center, will focus on Climate-Smart Energy and Agriculture Technologies. Meanwhile the Energy and Climate Change Dialogue will focus on SASSCAL’s core activities with a special emphasis on Green Energy potentials in Zambia. The conference will bring together researchers, academia, civil society, policy makers, private sector players and students among others. Kenneth Kaunda Int...
Read more