The impact of climate change on the spread of crop pests is established. Biological control methods show some promise but the pace of climate change means scientists are in a race against time.
The first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, was approved by the WHO in 2021.
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Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
For a malaria vaccine to have an impact, health promotion is key. Awareness campaigns must address safety concerns and emphasise expected positive impacts.
Financial support for science and research in Nigeria remains pathetic. This has led to the deterioration in the quantity and quality of trained virologists at universities.
Drug discovery research in Africa receives modest but essential international funding through philanthropic foundations and selected pharmaceutical companies.
Molecular research like that conducted at the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Nigeria is key to medical breakthroughs.
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Mobile health or mHealth is an appealing way to reach adolescents because it offers opportunities to deliver and monitor health interventions at a much lower cost.
Nigeria’s nanotechnology journey has been slow.
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In 2020 TB case detection fell by almost 20% and mortality rose for the first time in a decade. These setbacks are directly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Afrigen, a biotechnology company based in Cape Town, South Africa, is developing Africa’s first proprietary COVID-19 vaccine.
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With the manufacturing capacity and access to relevant technology, African countries can reduce their dependency on international manufacturers for vaccines.
To attain a new health order, African governments need to bolster investment in research and development, innovation and manufacturing of health tools.
Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town
Professor of Organic Chemistry, Neville Isdell Chair in African-centric Drug Discovery & Development, and Director of the Holistic Drug Discovery and Development (H3D) Centre, University of Cape Town
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand