Knowledge capacity and sustainable development: The case of South African HIV vaccine development

Publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) are an innovative mechanism for promoting investment in vaccine development for HIV/AIDS through the creation of economic and social incentives for collaboration. PPPs can also create important process-related, intangible value added. A case study of the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative conducted in mid-2005 concluded that intangible value added, occurring in the form of good collaborative effort and capacity building activities, significantly contributed to partnership working. The study also showed that often innovation and health(care) are seen as separate areas of activity in policy development, while in reality there are linkages between these two systems, particularly when viewing PPPs from a systems of innovation perspective through the concept of absorptive capacity, which relates to the understanding of the value and use of knowledge. A systems of innovation approach focuses on the building of knowledge capacity and knowledge flows. Policy based on this holistic and inclusive approach provides a possible means for sustainable development.