Rebecca Ejifoma
The Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment Consortium (GET Africa) in conjunction with the Lagos State Ministry of Health is set to host the 7th African Conference on One Health and Biosecurity.
The hybrid conference, which will run from October 27 to 29 this year in Victoria Island Lagos, is on the theme, “Universal Approach to Addressing Biosecurity Threats – Genomic Intelligence and Vaccines”.
According to the Chief Operating Officer of GET Africa, Dr. Ayodotun Bobadoye, at a media briefing in Lagos, the conference will focus on vaccines and genomic intelligence.
He emphasised: “You will agree with me that in the last few years African countries have improved on surveillance and other areas of biosecurity threats.
“When you talk about vaccines and genomic intelligence, Africa is still relatively behind. And it should not be so. We are still struggling to vaccinate about four per cent of the total population of Africa against COVID-19 compared with other continents that have vaccinated over 50 per cent of their population.”
This conference, Bobadoye said, will bring together experts from all over the world to discuss the issue of vaccine availability and production in the continent among other emerging issues as regards biosecurity and health.
They are Lead Speaker, Sir Hillary Beckles, Vice Chancellor, The University of the West Indies; Prof. Akin Abayomi, Commissioner for Health, Lagos State; Prof. Charles Wiysonge, Epidemiologist and Vaccinologist, South African Cochrane Centre, South Africa; Prof. Christian Happi, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Redeemers’ University, Ede, Nigeria.
Others include Dr. Vallierie Oriol Matthieu, Global Medical Affairs Lead, Vaccines Janssen Vaccines and Prevention, Netherlands; Dr Sam Ujewe, Senior Research Ethics Advisor, Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Prof. Mayowa Owolabi, Dean, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Ibadan.
Dr. M. Th. Mayrthofer, Head of ELSI Services & Research BBMRI-ERIC, Austria; Pasquela De Blaiso, Managing Director, Integrated Systems Engineering SRL (ISENET), Milan, Italy; Prof. Alan Christoffels, Director of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute among others.
Confirming his participation in the conference, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, harped on the role of genomic intelligence in keeping pace with effective vaccine development.
He also insisted that the concept of one health is necessary in ensuring biosecurity and all round health. Hence, the commissioner noted that the conference would address indigenous vaccine and strategies.
“This conference is beneficial to all – health practitioners, policy makers in government in the private sector, other professionals, and every health conscious person,” he added.
While acknowledging COVID-19 protocols, Abayomi encouraged those who can’t make it physically to the conference to join online via the conference’s social media platforms.
Prospective participants can registration on https://www.getafrica.org/events/conference-2021
