Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Sifelani Tsiko
18 August 2008
opinion
Harare — WHILE it is encouraging to hear that medical researchers in the United States have found a new technique to kill HIV in the human body, scientists in Zimbabwe and in most other African countries need more financial and material resources to strengthen their capacity to conduct research on HIV/Aids and compete at the global level.
It is a sad reality that people in Africa have now become accustomed to hearing about medical breakthroughs from elsewhere in the world and yet the continent is awash with brilliant medical researchers who often lack adequate financial and material resources.
As a result, most of Zimbabwe and Africa's finest scientific minds have either migrated to rich countries in the North or have been reduced to appendages and sidekicks in collaborative research controlled by universities based in Western countries.
Apart from this, Zimbabwe and most other African countries continue to be used as "trial" grounds with a view of promoting the drug sales by large multinationals.
The HIV/Aids pandemic has become an industry of huge proportions with far-reaching implications for most people in sub-Saharan Africa who are carrying the heavy burden of the pandemic.
It is important to help support medical researchers in Zimbabwe and other African countries to enable them to conduct research under conditions they understand well and give them a role in finding solutions to problems affecting their own people.
A number of initiatives in alternative medicine, treatment and management of the HIV Aids disease in Zimbabwe and most other African countries still need to be strengthened in addition to other conventional approaches.
The state of research facilities at most hospitals and institutions of higher learning is appalling and needs upgrading.
Lack of laboratory equipment, skilled research trainers and political will to support medical scientists on the continent have made the situation extremely difficult for local scientists to undertake studies that can lead to ground-breaking research which may lead to a cure for HIV.
There is need to mobilise resources both locally and abroad to help revive research institutions in Africa and enable them to play a meaningful role in HIV research, not only in prevalence, treatment and management areas, but also in drug research -- a highly prized and protected area for large pharmaceuticals.
The kind of collaborative research work most Zimbabwean and African medical scientists get has much to do with HIV drug trials, prevalence studies, nutrition and other areas which may in a subtle way, help medical researchers in Western countries win accolades for medical breakthroughs.
Collaborative research on HIV in Africa should retain the continent's health agenda and interest while at the same time helping research by scientists in the West. There is need to strike a balance otherwise key findings from Zimbabwe and Africa will continue to be hauled abroad for the benefit of medical research institutions in the North" with little or no benefit to local scientists and people.
Political will is necessary to help improve working conditions, research facilities and the link between research policy development, programme design and implementation in Africa.
Scientists on the continent still complain that their governments are still not taking research seriously.
They say funds allocated to research are not much and this leads to frustration and eventually to migration.
Apart from lack of funding, proper research facilities and equipment, scientists in Zimbabwe and Africa still lack the skills to write fundable research proposals.
There are a number of global medical science research fund initiatives which they can tap into for additional resources but poor research proposal writing skills have caused most talented scientists to lose out on funding.
In other cases, poor implementation and management of resources received has led to the withdrawal of funding support to a number of research institutions in Zimbabwe and Africa.
In the case of Zimbabwe, sanctions have made the situation worse despite the existence of sound projects and proposals, for example at the Scientific Industrial Research and Development Centre.
All this points to the need for more training on research proposals and project development to help widen research funding opportunities for local medical scientists. In addition, developing sound themes for research is also an important component for improving chances of getting funding.
Hope must not be lost among African medical researchers. At times, breakthroughs are made under trying and difficult circumstances.
The ground-breaking research by scientists at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in the US which has found an innovative way to kill the virus by focusing on the small region of HIV that is unchangeable must raise hopes and inspire African scientists to move a gear up by not just talking about suppressing HIV, but talking about destroying it permanently.
It's all about brain power before we talk about resources. Africa carries the heavy burden of the HIV and Aids pandemic and any cure for disease should come as a relief.
There is no cure for HIV and a small number of patients on the continent have access to anti-retrovirals that keep the disease in check.
A major challenge in HIV research is that the HIV virus mutates and quickly learns how to outsmart the drug cocktail.
"The virus is truly complex and has many tricks up its sleeve," said Dr Sudhir Paul of the University of Texas Medical School. "We've discovered the weak spot of HIV."
Dr Paul and his researchers are reported to have zeroed in on a section of key protein in HIV's structure that does not mutate.
"The virus needs at least one constant region and that is the essence of calling it the 'Achilles heel," he was quoted as saying.
The Achilles heel is the doctors' way in and researchers use abzyme, a natural produced by people like lupus patients, to disarm the virus.
"What we already have in our hand are the abzymes that we could be infusing into the human subjects with HIV infection, essentially to move the virus," said Dr Paul. "We have found an innovative way to kill the virus by finding this small region of HIV that is unchangeable."
Their findings could be used to control the disease for people who have the HIV virus and prevent infection for those at risk.
What now remains is for Dr Paul and his team to conduct human trials. Funding for them, too, is a big headache.
In the end, while the estimated 24,5 million people infected with HIV and Aids in sub-Saharan Africa await for a cure with interest, medical research scientists in Zimbabwe and Africa need a significant measure of support to enable them to conduct research and compete with other researchers at the global level.
Only this way can Zimbabwe and Africa unleash its intellectual potential in the vast field of medical research.
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