The Director of Public Health, Dr Daniel Kyabayinze, has called for stronger clinical trial preparedness and laboratory networks across Africa to ensure health systems can respond quickly when infectious disease outbreaks occur.
Speaking at the launch of the Advancing Clinical Trials and Epidemic Preparedness Research Capacity in Africa (ACT-PREP) project at Makerere University School of Public Health, Kyabayinze said Africa must strengthen its research and laboratory capacity to avoid delays in responding to outbreaks such as Ebola, Marburg and mpox.
"Establishing rapid clinical trial preparedness and robust laboratory networks within sub-Saharan Africa is important because it ensures health systems do not start from scratch when infectious disease outbreaks occur," he said.
The project will strengthen several areas of epidemic preparedness, including clinical research, disease surveillance, diagnostics, ethics, regulatory systems and pharmacovigilance.
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It will also support PhD and postdoctoral training programmes to build a pipeline of African researchers capable of conducting research during public health emergencies.
The project's Principal Investigator, Prof Rhoda Wanyenze, said the initiative seeks to establish equitable partnerships among 10 African and two European institutions while working closely with universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
She said the project will address challenges that have previously slowed emergency responses, particularly the time needed to establish research systems after an outbreak has already started.
ACT-PREP will also strengthen laboratory infrastructure, surveillance systems and regulatory processes while establishing networks for sharing expertise, data, technology and resources across Africa.
The programme will explore the use of artificial intelligence to support disease prediction, detection and rapid response, alongside One Health approaches that recognise the links between human, animal and environmental health.
Human resource development is another key component of the initiative, with the consortium targeting the training of at least 700 fellows over the next five years.
The project team said the training is intended to create a pool of African scientists capable of generating high-quality evidence during public health emergencies.
Stakeholders said the initiative is also intended to strengthen Africa's scientific independence by building local expertise, research infrastructure and cross-border collaboration needed to guide decisions on vaccines, diagnostics, treatments and disease control.
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With its launch, ACT-PREP is expected to strengthen the continent's ability to conduct research and generate timely scientific evidence when future disease outbreaks occur.
