Students carrying out researches Redeemer’s University of Nigeria African Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) is one of the selected centres by WHO for the world’s deadliest diseases research. Image credit: nature.com

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World Health Organisation (WHO) selects Nigerian and South African disease control centres for the world’s deadliest diseases research.

The disease control centres will lead African sequencing efforts for COVID-19 viruses, other emerging deadliest diseases; serve as continental reference centres for research, innovation and training in infectious disease and bioinformatics.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved three African centres for disease control – one Nigerian and two South African disease control centres as specialized continental reference sequencing research laboratories for world’s deadliest diseases, according to a media report.

WHO in conjunction with the African Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) have selected Redeemer’s University African Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), Nigeria; South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) and Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) in South Africa.

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As the search for solutions to COVID-19 and other world’s deadliest diseases continue, the centres were selected as World Health Organization (WHO) reference centres and bioinformatics’ research powerhouse for emerging pathogens.

According to Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s Africa Regional Office Director, the centres have been given the mandate to lead Africa sequencing efforts for COVID-19 viruses and other emerging pathogens; serve as continental reference centres for research, innovation and training in infectious disease and bioinformatics.

According to WHO, the centres are also mandated to develop and validate test kits; support lab accreditation and quality assurance process.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Africa Regional Office Director, explained that the three specialized regional reference centres will be providing services to countries without sequencing capacity in Africa.

She further stated that the global multilateral health regulatory body has requested for permission from both Nigerian and South African Health Ministries to allow shipping of COVID-19 samples from all African countries to the designated specialized regional reference sequencing laboratories in their respective countries.

She assured the two national health ministries of both the support of WHO and ACDC in providing logistics towards sequencing of COVID-19 and other emerging pathogens’ samples.

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