Ethiopia Us100 Million Tender

Multisectoral partnership will deliver tools and expertise to identify and stop COVID-19 and other disease threats and strengthen leadership for health security in AfricaA group of public private and non-profit organizations led by the African Union Commission through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Africa CDC launched the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative Africa PGI in a US100 million four-year partnership to expand access to next-generation genomic sequencing tools and expertise designed to strengthen public health surveillance and laboratory networks across Africa.Africa PGI will be part of the Institute of Pathogen Genomics launched by Africa CDC in 2019 with a vision to integrate pathogen genomics and bioinformatics into public health surveillance outbreak investigations and improved disease control and prevention in Africa. The institutes capacity will be strengthened to manage and provide technical oversight for Africa PGI.This new initiative will build a continent-wide disease surveillance and laboratory network based on pathogen genomic sequencing. This network will not only help identify and inform research and public health responses to COVID-19 and other epidemic threats but also for endemic diseases such as AIDS tuberculosis malaria cholera and other infectious diseases.Africa is experiencing high burden and frequent outbreaks of diseases and these continue to be magnified as the continent moves towards greater integration. The Africa Health Strategy 2016-2030 offers a cohesive and consolidative platform encompassing all commitments in the health sector and provides strategic direction to Member States in their efforts to create better-performing health systems for health security. Strengthening genomic surveillance systems is key for early notification and control of disease outbreaks. said Dr John Nkengasong Director of Africa CDC. Use and integration of advanced technologies such as next generation sequencing into surveillance and emergency response programmes facilitates public health decision-making for better outcomes as evidenced in two Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks and the current COVID-19 pandemic. The Africa PGI will help Member States build their capacities to operate strong surveillance and laboratory networks supported by advanced technologies to reduce the burden of disease and respond to outbreaks quickly and effectively.Contributions to Africa PGI includeIllumina and Oxford Nanopore are providing crucial in-kind contributions towards the next-generation sequencing machines and training to incorporate them into an integrated platform all alongside Africa CDC and public health institutions across AfricaThe Bill Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are contributing funding and technical assistance with the US CDCs technical contributions coming through its Advanced Molecular Detection programmeMicrosoft will contribute technical assistance and resources to support the design and build of Africa PGIs digital architecture in partnership with African institutions and offer in-kind access on Azure to high-performance computing and genomics software developed by its Life Sciences Division.Genomic sequencing technologies help public health specialists and researchers to understand pathogens in greater detail allowing them to better monitor and respond to emerging and re-emerging infections including tackling antimicrobial resistance. These tools can read the genetic material DNA or RNA of any organism.Developed over a decade ago next-generation sequencing NGS offers a more efficient accurate and cheaper way for researchers to track the slightest genetic changes in pathogens which may cause disease outbreaks across a population. This allows for timely and in-depth characterization of viruses bacteria and other pathogens leading to effective public health responses and more defined research targets. While some African institutions have access to genomic sequencing technology it has not been widespread due to high upfront costs limited well-trained workforce and limited infrastructure for data systems.NGS plays a critical role in all phases of an infectious disease public health threatfrom initial characterization to pathogen surveillance outbreak management and post-pandemic monitoring said Illuminas Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Phil Febbo. Illumina is proud to be a major supporter of the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative because in addition to NGS technologies this comprehensive program will also provide the necessary training programs data infrastructure and governmental support required for long-term sustainability.Genomic sequencing has been essential in shaping the global COVID-19 response. It has been used to develop accurate diagnostics guide the development of vaccines monitor the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and understand its transmission dynamics. Increased accessibility of NGS by National Public Health Institutes NPHIs would help Africa track the evolution of the virus and build precise tools and policies needed to control and eventually end the pandemic.In addition to COVID-19 around 140 disease outbreaks are detected annually in Africa and antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat. Genomic sequencing can help to quickly detect the resurgence of a disease as well as control and eliminate endemic diseases such as malaria cholera tuberculosis and AIDS. In resource-limited environments the near-real-time insights from pathogen genomics can inform targeted allocation of precious medical commodities like diagnostics drugs and vaccines.