Impact Global Health and PATH R&D Blindspots Policy Series
Impact Global Health and PATH are proud to launch the R&D Blindspots Policy Series, a collaborative set of industry snapshot reports designed to support evidence‑based decision‑making in global health research and development with a dedicated focus on Africa.
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About the series
Africa has articulated a clear and ambitious vision for health security and sovereignty—one that emphasises self‑reliance, resilient innovation systems, and the capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to health threats. At the same time, global health R&D continues to be shaped by epidemic risk, market incentives, and external priorities.
The R&D Blindspots Policy Series sits at this intersection, providing a set of industry snapshot analyses that translate complex R&D data into clear, actionable insights. The series takes a full value‑chain perspective, examining upstream research and clinical development alongside regulatory systems and manufacturing capacity, through an explicitly Africa‑centered lens grounded in continental priorities and disease burden. Together, these insights are intended to inform policy choices, investment decisions, and institutional reform across Africa’s health R&D ecosystem.
Rather than comprehensive reviews, each publication is designed as a focused diagnostic highlighting where systems are working, where gaps persist, and what is required to translate ambition into operational capability.
Snapshot 2
The diagnostics deficit:
Funding, access, and preparedness gaps in African health systems
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This second publication in the Impact Global Health and PATH co-authored Blindspots policy series examines a pressing question for the continent: are Africa's diagnostic systems ready to deliver on its health security commitments? Drawing on approved-product data, diagnostic R&D funding trends, and manufacturing and regulatory analysis, this diagnostics snapshot examines how diagnostic investment, product design, and manufacturing capacity align with Africa CDC's priority diseases. Taken together, the findings reveal a mixed picture.
While installed manufacturing capacity is expanding rapidly and 577 diagnostics are already approved, R&D funding continues to decline, and roughly half of approved products remain out of reach at the primary care level where most patients first seek care. This imbalance points to a growing risk that diagnostic readiness remains a political commitment rather than an operational reality, without the funding, regulatory, and delivery systems required to sustain it. The report concludes with targeted recommendations focused on reversing declining R&D investment, establishing diagnostics as a distinct regulatory category under the African Medicines Agency, and building the demand and financing frameworks African manufacturers need to scale.
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Snapshot 1
From commitment to capability: Are current R&D trends delivering on Africa’s health sovereignty ambitions?
The first publication in the R&D Blindspots Policy Series examines a pressing question for the continent: is research and development truly delivering Africa’s vision for health security and sovereignty?
Drawing on global R&D funding data, disease burden estimates, and clinical trial activity, the report examines how R&D investment patterns, clinical trial activity and leadership in Africa, and progress toward local manufacturing and regulatory readiness align with Africa CDC priority diseases.
Taken together, the findings reveal a mixed picture. While downstream manufacturing capacity is expanding rapidly, upstream R&D pipelines, African‑led clinical research, and coordinated regional innovation strategies continue to lag. This imbalance points to a growing risk that health sovereignty remains a political commitment rather than an operational reality, without the research foundations required to sustain it.
The snapshot concludes with targeted policy recommendations focused on strengthening domestic investment, improving regional coordination, enhancing regulatory effectiveness, and reinforcing African leadership across the R&D ecosystem.