African research fund created to support Africa’s scientists looking for a cure for AIDS, Ebola

An African research fund launched in Kenya on Thursday aims to raise the quality of Africa’s scientific output and tackle diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and Ebola.

The Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA), based at the African Academy of Sciences in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, aims to draw increased funding from African governments to set up centers of scientific excellence on the continent.

“What AESA hopes to achieve is to look at the major diseases that are already epidemics, the neglected tropical diseases – and the emerging challenges like Ebola and really build the capacities to try and deal with these challenges,” AESA Director Tom Kariuki told reporters.

“We want good scientists trained and retained on the continent, and rewarded to do the work that they do.”

Africa has the smallest number of scientists per capita of any continent as professionals often move abroad to further their careers, Kariuki said.

Scientists funded by AESA will work towards creating new vaccines, products and services for diseases that primarily affect Africans, he said.

When the 2014 Ebola epidemic broke out in West Africa, donors launched an emergency appeal for research aimed at managing the deadly virus better. Potential vaccines moved from the laboratory to the field in record time.

“It is first and foremost our responsibility as African scientists, as African governments, to actually make sure we are prepared for these sort of emergencies,” said Kariuki.

On Thursday AESA announced a grant of US$70 million to support seven African researchers working on issues such as mental health in Zimbabwe, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in South Africa and malaria in Mali.

All the diseases are hard to diagnose and have few drugs available for treatment, and there is no vaccine for any of them, Kariuki said.

The fund is asking African governments to invest one percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in scientific work.

Source: Reuters