President Macky Sall's candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General draws a lesson from the last pandemic. When vaccines ran short, Africa waited its turn behind the countries that made them and held them back. A continent then producing about 1% of the vaccines it consumes measured what dependence costs.

Scarcity followed the geography of production. Doses went first to where they were made. Sharing commitments came afterwards, slower than the virus. For a continent of one and a half billion people, health security could no longer rest on the goodwill of others alone.

Making them at home. As chair of the African Union, President Macky Sall carried the goal of continental production: raising to 60% the share of vaccines used in Africa that are made there by 2040, a target set by the African Union. In Senegal, the Institut Pasteur de Dakar launched a manufacturing project that gives that goal a first foothold.

Health is a matter of security. An outbreak left uncontained somewhere becomes everyone's business sooner or later. Investing in the production, surveillance and response capacity of the most exposed regions also protects those that believe themselves safe. The arithmetic of prevention holds for viruses as for conflicts.

What the Secretariat can carry. The Secretary-General does not make vaccines, but keeps the question open: lifting the barriers to technology transfer, backing the financing mechanisms, reminding states of their sharing commitments when the next crisis comes. A steady voice counts for more than one donor conference per pandemic.

Experience in running a state. Twelve years as head of state and the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022 underpin these commitments. That experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations: peace, security and development conceived together; a renewed multilateralism; stronger governance of the Organization.

Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.

The African Union and World Health Organization data on vaccine production are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net