African health researchers promise to document research findings after Accra meeting

A host of expert virologists and researchers from across the African continent converged in Accra on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, to share ideas and experiences on the crafting and promotion of the 'Journal of Public Health in Africa,' which is the official journal of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The meeting, a product of collaborative efforts between the National Vaccine Institute and the Africa CDC, was aimed at promoting the culture of research, documentation, and publication of findings among health workers on the continent.

Delivering the welcome remarks at the well-attended summit, Professor William Kwabena Ampofo, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Vaccine Institute, underscored the importance of the Africa CDC journal as the link between research and the commercial activities of virologists and health professionals.

He noted that documenting the research work of African health scientists would facilitate the justification and verification of their findings and build trust between them and other stakeholders in the healthcare value chain in African countries.

"There are various opportunities that we need to take advantage of to show that we have capable scientists and researchers, and that we are actually doing top-quality work. We need to do the usual thing; we need to publish. And we have our own African journal. We have our own Ghanaian journal, so we thought that it would be good to show the link between research and commercial activity through a process by which data is documented and peer-reviewed.

"For those of us in the academic field, you either publish or you stay at your level, so I'm very excited that using the platform of the National Vaccine Institute, we are gathered here to discuss how we can advance the documentation of basic science research, the top-quality studies on the population, and use our own Africa-centric platform to show that we are capable of doing our own work," he said.

Dr. Jean Kaseya, the Director-General of Africa CDC, described the meeting as a historic one of profound significance to the Africa CDC in its bid to ensure the documentation of research findings in the African health sector.

Referencing the struggle African countries had to endure in the acquisition of vaccines during the COVID-19 period, Dr. Kaseya noted that African countries cannot continue to rely on others for support and that creating a credible platform that serves as the 'Bible' for health-related research is a major step in the journey towards the production of vaccines by African countries.

He explained that the journal would serve as the hub for the storage of scientific information on the African continent.

Dr. Wisdom Atiwoto, Director of Research, Statistics, and Information Management at the Ministry of Health, outlined some key policies of the government, which include the mainstreaming and inculcation of research findings into the crafting of health policies in the country.

He noted with excitement the conscious effort by the Africa CDC to promote research among health workers and assured the government's support.

Professor Nicaise Ndembi, Senior Advisor to Africa CDC and Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Public Health in Africa (JPHIA), made a compelling case for subsidized charges in the publication of scientific research.

Professor Ndembi noted that, owing to the peculiar case of Africa where parts of the continent have been hit with various diseases over the years, it has become necessary for governments and stakeholders to facilitate and encourage the publication of scientific research findings.