Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease (SACIDS)
Overview | Supporters | Challenges | Objectives & Future Direction
Overview
Based on success working with networks in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, NTI's Global Health and Security Initiative will be supporting the creation of a new Southern African network and its secretariat. The Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) will be a virtual centre linking national institutions involved in the surveillance of infectious diseases underpinned with research by a consortium of academic and research institutions in Southern Africa. SACIDS brings together human, animal and plant health sectors in five pilot countries—Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa. The SACIDS Secretariat will be based at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania in association with the Tanzanian National Institute for Medical Research.
The vision of SACIDS is to protect southern Africa from devastating infectious diseases affecting the health of humans, animals (i.e. both terrestrial and aquatic), and plants (i.e. crop, forest and ornamental), thereby promoting livelihoods, socio-economic development including market access and the environment.
Pilot Members
- Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania)
- Muhumbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Tanzania)
- Institute of Public Health, University of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique)
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia
- Onderstepoort Vet Institute, Agriculture Research Council (South Africa)
|
Activities
- Establishing SACIDS Secretariat at Sokoine University in Tanzania
- Establishing SACIDS governance structure
- Working towards One Africa, One Health
- Link with Ministries responsible for human and animal health
- Cultivate linkages with other networks in Africa
- Share best practices and lessons-learned from other regional disease surveillance networks
|
Priority Diseases
- Avian Influenza
- Cholera
- Dengue Fever
- Dysentery
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Foot-and-Mouth Disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Malaria
- Rabies
- Rift Valley Fever
- Tuberculosis
|
Supporters
Google.org has awarded GHSI a grant to help SACIDS establish a governance structure. Over the next six months, SACIDS will receive support via GHSI to acquire staff, develop an administrative structure and become an independent entity to which financial support may be provided directly.
Other SACIDS collaborating institutions include:
- The Royal Veterinary College, University of London,
- The Centre for Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh,
- The London International Development Centre
- The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi
Challenges
Disease Burden
Africa has the highest infectious disease burden in the world. While the global epicentre for H5N1 avian influenza is East Asia, Africa is the epicentre for the three major killers of humans, namely AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. A similar situation pertains to infectious diseases of animals. For example of the 16 most contagious animal, 12 are endemic in Africa of which eight occur either exclusively or predominantly in Africa.
Climate
Southern Africa has experienced repeated climatic emergency shocks of drought and floods in the new millennium. These include the droughts experienced in the 1990s, 2001, 2002 and 2005 and the floods in 2000, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Concomitant with the climate driven emergencies there have been widespread epidemics of transboundary animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), African swine fever and Rift Valley Fever.
Objectives & Future Direction
One Africa, One Health
SACIDS members recognize a need for closer communication between the public, animal and plant health sectors. SACIDS is working to formulate a One Health – One Medicine concept through promoting inter-sectoral collaboration through national and regional joint programs and to improve the detection, identification and monitoring of infectious diseases of humans, animals and plants by sharing relevant science and technologies
Surveillance and Response
SACIDS members aim to improve the detection, identification and response of infectious diseases of humans, animals and plants. Members share relevant science and technologies and establish a standardized integrated disease surveillance and response system including early warning systems for infectious diseases in the region.
Training and Research
As a centre for academic and research institutions, SACIDS will establish relevant research programs that will enhance the effectiveness of national and regional operations for human, animal and plant health service delivery. SACIDS will also identify existing training programs and define needs for training and capacity building at all levels, and will foster a culture of formal mentoring for young scientists and technicians.
Cultivating linkages with related networks in Africa
At the African Continental level, the African Union is proposing an African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (ACIDS) as a network of regional networks. SACIDS is the first such regional network. So it is hoped that SACIDS will be both a member of ACIDS and a provider of useful experience to similar networks to be developed in other regions of Africa.
Learning from similar networks in the Middle East and Southeast Asia
Global studies have shown that Asia and Africa have the highest burden of infectious diseases and are likely to be hotspots for new emerging diseases. GHSI has nurtured two networks, MECIDS in the Middle East and MBDS in Southeast Asia, whose governance and operation systems experience could offer a model to the new SACIDS network. GHSI will help SACIDS link with MECIDS and MBDS to share best practices and experiences.
|
