In a significant boost to Africa’s fight against COVID-19 and other deadly diseases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the African Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) have named three African laboratories as specialised reference centres for sequencing and researching emerging pathogens.
The selected labs are the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria, the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI), and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), both in South Africa.
These centres will lead Africa’s genomic sequencing efforts, particularly for COVID-19 and other emerging diseases.
They will also serve as continental hubs for research, innovation, and training in infectious diseases and bioinformatics, developing and validating test kits and supporting laboratory accreditation and quality assurance across Africa.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, explained that these centres will provide sequencing services to African countries that lack such capacity. The WHO has requested that the health ministries of Nigeria and South Africa allow COVID-19 samples from other African countries to be shipped to these centres for analysis.
She assured both governments that WHO and ACDC would support logistics for sample transport and sequencing.
Reacting to this recognition, the Vice-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Professor Anthony Akinlo, praised the ACEGID team for their dedication, innovation, and excellence, which have positioned the centre as a global leader in genomics research.
He urged the team to remain focused and continue setting the standard for cutting-edge scientific research in Africa.
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