World Immunisation Week - What should it mean for Immunology in Africa?

Authors

  • Charles Selasi Dolly London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • Grace Muguro London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom

Keywords:

immunology, africa, world, campaign, vaccines, immunization

Abstract

As with several scientific disciplines, many of the breakthroughs garnered in the field of immunology predominantly involve institutions and researchers from the developed world. Yearly, the World Immunisation Week is celebrated in the last week of April as an immunisation-related campaign strategy by the World Health Organisation. What should be done to increase interest and investment in this area of research in Africa, beyond the primary scope of Africa just being the hub for numerous vaccine-related clinical trials?

If Africa is to contribute further beyond our current capacity and occupy the vanguard of prevailing immunological research, there would be the need to encourage continuous equipping of local researchers and their institutions, established funding from African governments towards studies, and a compassionate scientific partnership with international organisations.

References

Rich RR, Fleisher TA, Shearer WT, Schroeder Jr HW, Frew AJ, Weyand CM. Clinical immunology e-book: principles and practice. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2012 Oct 26.

Villani AC, Sarkizova S, Hacohen N. Systems immunology: Learning the rules of the immune system. Annual review of immunology. 2018 Apr 26;36:813-42.

Cose S, Bagaya B, Nerima B, Joloba M, Kambugu A, Tweyongyere R, Dunne DW, Mbidde E, Kaleebu P, Elliott AM. Immunology in Africa. Tropical medicine & international health. 2015 Dec;20(12):1771-7.

World Immunization Week 2022 - Long Life for All [Internet]. Who.int. 2022 [cited 19 April 2022]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2022/04/24/default-calendar/world-immunization-week-2022---long-life-for-all

Ebrahim A. Accountability in practice: Mechanisms for NGOs. World development. 2003 May 1;31(5):813-29.

Kasprowicz VO, Chopera D, Waddilove KD, Brockman MA, Gilmour J, Hunter E, Kilembe W, Karita E, Gaseitsiwe S, Sanders EJ, Ndung’u T. African-led health research and capacity building-is it working? BMC Public Health. 2020 Dec;20(1):1-0.

El-Gamal YM, Hossny EM, El-Sayed ZA, Reda SM. Allergy and immunology in Africa: challenges and unmet needs. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2017 Nov 1;140(5):1240-3.

Published

27-04-2022

How to Cite

Dolly, C. S., & Muguro, G. (2022). World Immunisation Week - What should it mean for Immunology in Africa?. African Journal of Current Medical Research, 5(2). Retrieved from https://africmr.org/ojs/index.php/afrijcmr/article/view/113

Issue

Section

Review & Commentary