It is critical that African scientists tackle African problems, and the reasons extend beyond access. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS.
By Khisi Mdluli
BOSTON, US, Mar 15 2024 (IPS)
I was born in Brakpan, Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in eSwatini (known then as Swaziland). People in these two countries share one predominant fear: unemployment. Other worries in these countries and others in the region include unwanted pregnancies, low income and food safety. The diseases that are dreaded the most are cancer and diabetes. Feared infectious diseases include HIV-AIDS, COVID and cholera.
Even though South Africa and eSwatini are among the more than two dozen African countries with a high burden of either tuberculosis (TB), drug-resistant TB or HIV/TB co-infections, TB is not feared in the same way, even though it is the disease that haunts my people the most.
More than 90% of current funding for TB R&D currently comes from North America and Europe, and most of those funds stay in the high-income countries, and train and develop and indeed employ scientists in the high-income countries. Of the high-burden countries, only India has an investment in the field large enough to be noted — at 1.9% of the total global funding
So many are affected on the African continent by TB, which hits the young and vibrant the hardest in our region and in the world. Eswatini joins the seven most populous sub-Saharan African countries — Ethiopia, DR Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania — where TB hits the 25-34 and 35-44 age brackets especially hard.
It is not just the years of life that this disease takes away from us, but also the future leadership and economic productivity of our countries. I see this even within my own family, with one niece currently being treated for TB and another niece having survived drug-resistant TB a few years back.
World TB Day is March 24, a day when we will hear about ending TB by 2030 — even though it is a disease that has been with us forever. With only six years left, that goal seems too distant. To achieve this goal, we need better awareness, yes. But we also need Africans to be fully engaged with the rest of the world, which includes conducting drug discovery and development research for TB in Africa.
Most of the current TB drugs, like the drugs for most diseases that affect Africans, are developed by companies in high-income countries. We saw what that meant in the delayed rate at which lifesaving COVID vaccines reached African countries; the high-income countries that helped develop the vaccines received them much faster.
This is why, for the Gates Medical Research Institute’s trials testing investigational treatments or vaccine candidates, the relationships that we establish with the trial sites in Africa and elsewhere are meant to support those facilities when they eventually take the lead on future trials.
It is critical that African scientists tackle African problems, and the reasons extend beyond access. Local scientists have a better understanding of the social fabric and context threatened by diseases like TB; they understand which solutions could be adopted and embraced and which will remain on the shelf.
In September 2023, the United Nations held a High-Level Meeting where member states agreed to boost the amount of funding for TB research by a fivefold increase by 2027 — but no guidelines on geography were placed on this pledge.
More than 90% of current funding for TB R&D currently comes from North America and Europe, and most of those funds stay in the high-income countries, and train and develop and indeed employ scientists in the high-income countries. Of the high-burden countries, only India has an investment in the field large enough to be noted — at 1.9% of the total global funding.
Funding specifically earmarked for TB (and antimicrobial resistance) research in Africa would ensure that more of it takes place on African soil. Funding is needed to build appropriately equipped research and production infrastructure, much like the new mRNA vaccine facility being built in Rwanda.
Such facilities would be staffed with African scientists, who would get opportunities to expand their basic and applied research skills. The H3D Research Centre at the University of Cape Town, led by Dr. Kelly Chibale, is one example of how successful African ingenuity can be, with four patents already filed.
Together with the much-needed funding from Africa’s better-resourced foreign partners in high-income countries, African governments should incentivize African businesses, African foundations and charities, and high-net-worth Africans to build African Research Institutes to train, develop and employ African scientists.
Developing medicines for diseases like TB that are killing African youth and stunting Africa’s economic growth should be everyone’s priority, in Africa and the world.
It is critically important that such efforts are not tied to immediate profits, as this leads to disappointment and ends with dwindling funds for research.
Drug discovery is a “long and winding road” that begins with building talent and infrastructure and expanding the critical mass of well-trained drug developers. Investment in biomedical research should be for the sake of expanding biomedical knowledge and training young scientists; the discoveries and the profits will follow.
The timing couldn’t be more appropriate than now as new futuristic technologies — including artificial intelligence, machine learning and high-speed connectivity — are entering the drug development arena.
We can now see a point when the health profile and the life expectancy of people in Africa could be comparable to the rest of the world. Africa and the world should be guided by the belief that all lives have equal value and that health equality is ensured for everyone, on all continents.
Khisimuzi (Khisi) Mdluli, PhD, is a TB Drug Scientist and a Discovery Project Leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI).
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LCI Éducation a signé officiellement ce matin un partenariat avec la Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF) et devient ainsi un Partenaire Officiel des Lions de l'Atlas.
En nouant ce partenariat avec la FRMF, LCI Éducation, une organisation canadienne qui compte 12 institutions d'enseignement supérieur sur cinq continents, souhaite soutenir le football marocain et les valeurs portées par cette discipline qui fait honneur au Maroc sur la scène nationale et internationale. Cette collaboration stratégique représente une étape importante pour consolider les liens entre l'éducation supérieure et le sport dans le pays.
Un partenariat prometteur visant à renforcer la synergie entre l'éducation et le sport
Grâce à ce partenariat, LCI Éducation et la Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football - FRMF mettent en avant leurs expertises et leur soutien pour la mise en place de multiples opérations reliées à leur secteur d'activité respectif :
– La Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football - FRMF privilégiera les établissements de LCI Éducation pour répondre à ses besoins en formation
– LCI Éducation et la Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football - FRMF vont collaborer pour promouvoir des formations spécifiques, notamment un Master en Gestion des équipes sportives
– LCI Éducation et la Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football - FRMF s'engageront conjointement pour la cause de la persévérance scolaire, de la promotion du sport auprès des jeunes, ainsi que pour souligner les résultats du BAC annuellement
– Et bien d'autres actions à venir qui visent à renforcer la synergie entre l'Éducation et le Sport !
« C'est avec une immense fierté que LCI Éducation, à travers ses établissements HEM et Collège LaSalle au Maroc, devient un Partenaire Officiel des Lions de l'Atlas », a mentionné le Président et chef de la direction de LCI Éducation, Claude Marchand. « Ce partenariat novateur symbolise notre engagement à fusionner éducation et sport pour créer un impact durable, renforçant ainsi les liens et les valeurs communes entre l'enseignement supérieur et le football marocain ».
Les actions du partenariat entre LCI Éducation et la Fédération Royal Marocaine de Football vont se déployer au cours des prochains mois. Ensemble, nous sommes déterminés à renforcer la synergie entre le savoir et l'activité physique, tout en soutenant fièrement les Lions de l'Atlas sur la scène nationale et internationale.
Son Excellence Wale Edun ministre des finances de la République Fédérale du Nigeria est en visite au Bénin. Il a été reçu par le Chef de l'Etat et d'autres membres du gouvernement en l'occurrence Romuald Wadagni ministre d'Etat chargé des finances et de l'économie . Si rien n'a filtré de l'entretien entre les deux personnalités d'une part et le chef de l'Etat d'une part, on peut imaginer que les échanges ont porté sur la situation économique dans la sous région d'une manière générale et surtout l'accord de libres échanges économique en vue entre notre pays et son grand voisin. Cette visite du ministre des finances du Nigeria témoigne également de la bonne qualité des relations économiques et diplomatiques entre nos deux états
Nous y reviendrons
Written by Claudia Vinci (1st edition).
In December 2023, the Commission presented a proposal on the protection of animals during transport, with a view to replacing and updating Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005.
This proposal, along with another on welfare and traceability of dogs and cats, is part of a legislative package to reform the current EU rules on animal welfare. The reform was announced in 2020 with the launch of the ‘farm to fork’ strategy, which aims to create a fairer, healthier and more environmentally friendly food system.
The proposed text introduces stricter rules regarding travel times, the minimum space between animals, transport conditions for vulnerable animals, transportation in extreme temperatures, safeguarding of animals transported to third countries, the utilisation of technological systems and the protection of cats and dogs in commercial transport.
In the European Parliament, the file has been assigned to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) and to the Committee of Transport and Tourism (TRAN), with Daniel Buda (EPP, Romania) and Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA, Germany) as co-rapporteurs.
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