Author: Dario Scaramuzzi

African and European multidisciplinary researchers established an integrated consortium to develop a research project on the dengue and Zika viruses affecting Africa and the world

Dengue and Zika viruses are arboviruses primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Dengue and Zika infectious disease frequently erupt in tropical and subtropical regions. Globalization coupled with climate change, significantly expedites their worldwide dissemination, often sparking new epidemics.

WHO reported the highest number of dengue cases (~6.5 million in 2023) in over 80 countries with 7300 dengue-related deaths. Burkina Faso and Mali have been reported to be among 8 countries with active cases in 2023, while Burkina Faso accounted for about 74% of total numbers of cases. Tanzania’s first confirmed Dengue outbreak occurred in 2010 in Dar es Salaam, since then, several outbreaks have occurred. Furthermore, first confirmed cases of Zika in Tanzania were reported in 2016 and in 2022. Incidence of dengue and Zika fever often spikes in rainy seasons mostly in urban settings.

Understanding how dengue and Zika viruses interact and affect individuals and populations is crucial for disease management and prevention, given their frequent co-circulation and potential for compounded clinical outcomes. The interplay between these viruses can complicate clinical picture, potentially leading to atypical or severe disease presentations.

Identifying and analyzing drivers of dengue and Zika virus spread in regions lacking sufficient epidemiological, immunological, and entomological data is critical for effective surveillance and control. Variations of these infections transmission in the three countries provides a unique opportunity to investigate genetic diversity of vectors and viruses, immunology and molecular interplay influences clinical outcome and co-circulation.

A multidisciplinary consortium of African and European researchers responded to the urgent call from the European Union by developing a research project on the current Monkeypox outbreak in central Africa.

The spread of Mpox virus (MPXV) in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo (RoC) presents an urgent public health concern with global implications. MPXV cases have been reported across 114 countries with 89,752 confirmed reports and >150 deaths. It has the highest prevalence in DRC and has resulted in twice the number of deaths in the African region compared to Europe. RoC, a DRC bordering country, is also experiencing a surge in positive cases, highlighting an urgent need for data-driven efforts to identify transmission routes and implement public health initiatives. MPOX-PROBE is responding to this call for action with an international consortium and activities in three main pillars:

(1) improving epidemiological surveillance of Mpox with new diagnostics and sampling efforts including high-risk areas and vulnerable populations;

2) capacity building to improve diagnostic and research capacities of researchers and public health workers in DRC and RoC;

3) strengthening public health response by sharing surveillance data and newly developed spatiotemporal risk and transmission models for Mpox.
Through MPOX-PROBE, this consortium will create actionable data to uncover MPXV transmission routes and natural reservoirs facilitating development of effective interventional packages. The transmission and risks models will allow prediction of future or emerging outbreaks and develop initiatives to prevent further spread. Together, these efforts will benefit vulnerable populations and
general public in sub-Saharan Africa alike while also performing ground-breaking research to understand transmission mechanisms.

NeuroSolve Project Kick-off Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia

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The NeuroSolve consortium held its Project Kick-off Meeting on the 4th December 2023 in Lusaka (Zambia). NeuroSolve is a four-year project funded by EDCTP3, lead by an African-European research consortium involves the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM – Tanzania), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA – Tanzania), University of Zambia (UNZA – Zambia), Revolution Worldwide Srl – Impresa Sociale (R-EvoWW – Italy) and Universiteit Ghent (UGent – Belgium).

Third International Conference on Public Health in Africa

The third edition of CPHIA was hosted by the Zambian Ministry of Health and took place from 27th to 30th November 2023 at Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka, Zambia.

The topic of the conference “Breaking Barriers: Repositioning Africa in the Global Health Architecture” was explored across nine plenary sessions, several parallel and abstract sessions and dozens of official side events. CPHIA 2023 was one of the largest global public health events because involved 40 different nations with over 5000 delegates who attended the conference in person and over 20,000 virtually. Part of the R-evoWW team took part in the event.

INTEGRATION Annual Project Meeting Y2-Rome

The INTEGRATION consortium held its annual meeting of the year 2 of the project on 6th and 7th March 2023 in Rome, Italy. During the meeting, the progress of the project was presented by the different members of the consortium.

Professor Andrea Crisanti (Full Professor of molecular parasitology at Imperial College in London – Department of Life Sciences and Senate of the Italian Republic) also took part in the event with a plenary speech on scientific advances in the manipulation of the natural selection of mosquitoes to disrupt the reproductive capacity of malaria vectors.

Second International Conference on Public Health in Africa

 

The Second International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) was held in Kigali on 13th-15th December 2022.

In CPHIA 2022 conference were addressed discussion on need to ensure global health security. The conference also offered dedicated tracks focused on progress in the areas of digital health technologies, local vaccine manufacturing capacity, as well as all concerning HIV, TB, Malaria and Non-Communicable Diseases, and the need of strengthening of health system for equitable and universal health African coverage. In the conference related issues were addressed equity and inclusion, dedicated totally to Woman in Health, as, also the importance of public-private partnership in enhancement of overall health response.

During this conference R-evoWW had the opportunity to present the results of INTEGRATION project.

INTEGRATION – Project Kick-off Meeting

The INTEGRATION consortium held its kick-off meeting on 22nd and 23rd November 2021 both in person at Hôtel l’Amitié, Bamako, Mali, and virtually. The main purpose of the meeting was to offer the opportunity to exchange knowledge and practices between the INTEGRATION researchers, stakeholders and policymakers, as well as to have a common understanding of the study and any key questions during the study implementation in the routine health systems in Burkina Faso and Mali.

Tenth EDCTP Forum October 2021: Equity in Research for Health

The Tenth biennal EDCTP Forum took place virtually, because of COVID-19 pandemic, from 17th to 21st  October 2021, hosted by the National Institute of Health (INS), Mozambique and the Health Research Centre of Manhiça (CISM). The Opening and Closing sessions were held in person at the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre (JICC) in Maputo (Mozambique).

The topic of Forum “Equity in Research for Health” gave the excellent opportunity of networking between over six hundred most exponent from different regions and research fields.

R-evoWW had the opportunity to participate to the Tenth EDCTP Forum presenting, during the Poster Session, the INTEGRATION Project.

Click here to download our poster

African-European Symposium: Challenges in Research Ethics Assessment, 13:00 – 18:00 CET, May 25th, 2021.

The symposium,  organised by The Embassy of Good Science, in collaboration with EUREC, BERC-Luso, AfriEthique, and LiberHetica, aims to facilitate the sharing of experiences and perspectives on research ethics assessment challenges between African and European experts. The symposium is organized into four sessions in which experts will present on challenges and solutions related to the theme of their session. A panel discussion will follow the speaker presentations https://bit.ly/3tqlS9H.

The symposium will be live streamed here (no registration required):

https://zoom.us/j/92564963152?pwd=M3JnYWNYNEU2eVYrR3NrUG5vSWR1QT09

Passcode: sN6yzc