The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), recently launched the African Strategic Advisory Group on Genomics (ASAG), which aims to independent technical guidance on the governance and implementation of genomics across the continent, reports Africa Business Communities.
The initiative strengthens Africa CDC’s push to expand access to genomics technologies in support of disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response, precision public health, and the local development and manufacturing of medical countermeasures, it said.
ASAG will support the CDC’s efforts to ensure genomics is applied ethically, responsibly, and equitably, and build on progress made through the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative, which has expanded sequencing, laboratory, bioinformatics, and data infrastructure across the continent.
These investments have enhanced surveillance and characterisation of health threats including mpox, cholera, antimicrobial resistance, malaria, and other epidemic-prone diseases.
The advisory group will also help guide the broader application of pathogen and human genomics targeting Africa’s increasing burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Supporting health sovereignty agenda
ASAG aligns with Africa CDC’s broader Africa Health Security and Sovereignty agenda, and will provide strategic recommendations on:
• Harmonised genomics standards
• Capacity building and workforce development
• Technology transfer
• Data governance and privacy
• Intellectual property
• Ethics and equitable partnerships
Independent and Africa-centred advisory role
Africa CDC said ASAG will operate with “independence, transparency, accountability, scientific integrity, inclusivity, and equity”. Members will serve in their personal capacities and provide non-binding recommendations to inform Africa CDC’s genomics programmes and continental priorities.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Africa CDC and Global Fund establish central data repository
African DNA absent from global genome map, warn scientists
Landmark study of African genomes details human migration and health