Science investment and Ebola crisis in Africa

Lazarus Sauti

The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest and most serious outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in recorded history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa.

Centred in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the outbreak continues to worsen.

Further, other countries including Ghana and Senegal are at greatest risk, according to Kamran Khan, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Division of Infectious Diseases and co-author of a new study on the likelihood of West Africa’s Ebola outbreak spreading oversees via air travel.

This shows that this blight is respecting no boundaries and the human race is at risk. For instance, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,the national public health institute of the United States, estimates that some 9 000 people have contracted the disease so far.

Heath officials put the death toll at around 4 500, meaning that one in two people who get Ebola in this outbreak die.

Although the World Health Organisation, the United Nations public health arm, admits the figures are underestimates, it warns there could be as many as 20 000 cases by November if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up.

Writing in the journal “The Lancet Infectious Diseases”, scientists also warned that the Ebola epidemic will explode by mid-December. “The Ebola epidemic devastating parts of West Africa will have killed tens of thousands of people by the middle of December unless urgent action is taken.” 

The Ebola crisis in Africa puts in focus the inadequate scientific investment and how ill-equipped is Africa when it comes to Ebola and other infectious diseases. The continent is not doing enough in terms of investment in scientific research.

As it stands, Sub-Saharan Africa has 13.4 per cent of the world’s population but is home to only 1.1 per cent of the world’s scientific researchers.

This should change if the continent is to enhance specialised isolation units on top of improving access to state-of-the-art laboratories.

African countries must, therefore, invest in scientific research if the continent is to curb socioeconomic challenges.

South Africa’s minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, agrees: “Investment in scientific research on the continent is the panacea to the challenges plaguing development.”

Investing in scientific research, according to a Harvard poll earlier this month, could equip African countries with state-of-the-art laboratories, medical equipments, protective gears, and medicines as well as doctors and nurses specially trained in infection control.

Governments must provide a fair budget on scientific research to accelerate “the science and research that will lead to potentially a quick diagnosis of Ebola from a simple blood test.” This is so because without much investment, countries cannot have enough laboratory equipments and medicines for present and prevailing health challenges currently ravaging Africa.

Brian Sedze, the President of Free Enterprise Initiative and Executive Chairman of Africa Innovation Hub, concurs: “Africa needs proper investment in research and development on top of solid institutions to be at the forefront of solving inherent and new challenges across the broad spectrum of health, economic, social, legal, technological, safety and security and the environment in the continent.

“If the continent had solid institutions it would not have reacted in a pathetic, confused, comprehensively irresponsible and tragic manner to the Ebola catastrophe. The Ebola scourge is surely a wakeup call for the continent to invest in scientific research and to build its own robust institutions.”

He goes on to say the Ebola virus has been known since 1976 but sadly the continent still has no capacity to play a pivotal role in fighting this scourge 40 years later.

“The continent has not even invested in research on this virus like what the Centres for Disease Control and private pharmaceutical companies did. We have a misplaced belief that some country/s in the world will do the research for us.”

Sedze, therefore, urges Africans to shed off the dependency and donor economy syndrome as the continent has far enough resources to sustain itself and run its institutions.

Governments must simply use natural resources to support scientific research as well as creating enabling environments that attract and retain scientists to work within the continent. They must spend enough money on basic life sciences research if they are to control challenges inhibiting development in the continent.