scholarly journals Strengthening human genetics research in Africa: report of the 9th meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics in Dakar in May 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ndiaye Diallo ◽  
M. Gadji ◽  
B. J. Hennig ◽  
M. V. Guèye ◽  
A. Gaye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Genetics ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Society ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
Human Heredity ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
The Usa

The 9th meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics, in partnership with the Senegalese Cancer Research and Study Group and the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium, was held in Dakar, Senegal. The theme was Strengthening Human Genetics Research in Africa. The 210 delegates came from 21 African countries and from France, Switzerland, UK, UAE, Canada and the USA. The goal was to highlight genetic and genomic science across the African continent with the ultimate goal of improving the health of Africans and those across the globe, and to promote the careers of young African scientists in the field. A session on the sustainability of genomic research in Africa brought to light innovative and practical approaches to supporting research in resource-limited settings and the importance of promoting genetics in academic, research funding, governmental and private sectors. This meeting led to the formation of the Senegalese Society for Human Genetics.

scholarly journals Human genetics and genomics research in Ecuador: historical survey, current state, and future directions

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlon S. Zambrano-Mila ◽  
Spiros N. Agathos ◽  
Juergen K. V. Reichardt
Keyword(s):  
Human Genetics ◽  
Genetic Diseases ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Forensic Sciences ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Genomics Research ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Genetics And Genomics

Abstract Background In South America, the history of human genetics is extensive and its beginnings go back to the onset of the twentieth century. In Ecuador, the historical record of human genetics and genomics research is limited. In this context, our work analyzes the current status and historical panorama of these fields, based on bibliographic searches in Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science. Results Our results determined that the oldest paper in human genetics coauthored by an Ecuadorian institution originates from the Central University of Ecuador in 1978. From a historical standpoint, the number of articles has increased since the 1990s. This growth has intensified and it is reflected in 137 manuscripts recorded from 2010 to 2019. Areas such as human population genetics, phylogeography, and forensic sciences are the core of genetics and genomics-associated research in Ecuador. Important advances have been made in the understanding of the bases of cancer, some genetic diseases, and congenital disorders. Fields such as pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics have begun to be explored during the last years. Conclusions This work paints a comprehensive picture and provides additional insights into the future panorama of human genetic and genomic research in Ecuador as an example of an emerging, resource-limited country with interesting phylogeographic characteristics and public health implications.

scholarly journals Modelling COVID-19 transmission in Africa: countrywise projections of total and severe infections under different lockdown scenarios

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e044149
Author(s):  
Isabel Frost ◽  
Jessica Craig ◽  
Gilbert Osena ◽  
Stephanie Hauck ◽  
Erta Kalanxhi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Compartmental Model ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Exponential Increase ◽  
Progression Of Disease ◽  
Severe Infections ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Hiv Aids

ObjectivesAs of 13 January 2021, there have been 3 113 963 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 and 74 619 deaths across the African continent. Despite relatively lower numbers of cases initially, many African countries are now experiencing an exponential increase in case numbers. Estimates of the progression of disease and potential impact of different interventions are needed to inform policymaking decisions. Herein, we model the possible trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 in 52 African countries under different intervention scenarios.DesignWe developed a compartmental model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to estimate the COVID-19 case burden for all African countries while considering four scenarios: no intervention, moderate lockdown, hard lockdown and hard lockdown with continued restrictions once lockdown is lifted. We further analysed the potential impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations affected by HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB).ResultsIn the absence of an intervention, the most populous countries had the highest peaks in active projected number of infections with Nigeria having an estimated 645 081 severe infections. The scenario with a hard lockdown and continued post-lockdown interventions to reduce transmission was the most efficacious strategy for delaying the time to the peak and reducing the number of cases. In South Africa, projected peak severe infections increase from 162 977 to 2 03 261, when vulnerable populations with HIV/AIDS and TB are included in the analysis.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly spreading across the African continent. Estimates of the potential impact of interventions and burden of disease are essential for policymakers to make evidence-based decisions on the distribution of limited resources and to balance the economic costs of interventions with the potential for saving lives.

scholarly journals Three models for the regulation of polygenic scores in reproduction

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106588
Author(s):  
Sarah Munday ◽  
Julian Savulescu
Keyword(s):  
Human Genetics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Embryo Selection ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Polygenic Scores ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The past few years have brought significant breakthroughs in understanding human genetics. This knowledge has been used to develop ‘polygenic scores’ (or ‘polygenic risk scores’) which provide probabilistic information about the development of polygenic conditions such as diabetes or schizophrenia. They are already being used in reproduction to select for embryos at lower risk of developing disease. Currently, the use of polygenic scores for embryo selection is subject to existing regulations concerning embryo testing and selection. Existing regulatory approaches include ‘disease-based' models which limit embryo selection to avoiding disease characteristics (employed in various formats in Australia, the UK, Italy, Switzerland and France, among others), and 'laissez-faire' or 'libertarian' models, under which embryo testing and selection remain unregulated (as in the USA). We introduce a novel 'Welfarist Model' which limits embryo selection according to the impact of the predicted trait on well-being. We compare the strengths and weaknesses of each model as a way of regulating polygenic scores. Polygenic scores create the potential for existing embryo selection technologies to be used to select for a wider range of predicted genetically influenced characteristics including continuous traits. Indeed, polygenic scores exist to predict future intelligence, and there have been suggestions that they will be used to make predictions within the normal range in the USA in embryo selection. We examine how these three models would apply to the prediction of non-disease traits such as intelligence. The genetics of intelligence remains controversial both scientifically and ethically. This paper does not attempt to resolve these issues. However, as with many biomedical advances, an effective regulatory regime must be in place as soon as the technology is available. If there is no regulation in place, then the market effectively decides ethical issues.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in West Africa: regional resource mobilisation and allocation in the first year of the pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. e004762
Author(s):  
Césaire Ahanhanzo ◽  
Ermel Ameswue Kpogbe Johnson ◽  
Ejemai Amaize Eboreime ◽  
Sombié Issiaka ◽  
Ben Idrissa Traoré ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
First Year ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
African Health ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Resource Mobilisation

The world continues to battle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas many countries are currently experiencing the second wave of the outbreak; Africa, despite being the last continent to be affected by the virus, has not experienced as much devastation as other continents. For example, West Africa, with a population of 367 million people, had confirmed 412 178 cases of COVID-19 with 5363 deaths as of 14 March 2021; compared with the USA which had recorded almost 30 million cases and 530 000 deaths, despite having a slightly smaller population (328 million). Several postulations have been made in an attempt to explain this phenomenon. One hypothesis is that African countries have leveraged on experiences from past epidemics to build resilience and response strategies which may be contributing to protecting the continent’s health systems from being overwhelmed. This practice paper from the West African Health Organization presents experience and data from the field on how countries in the region mobilised support to address the pandemic in the first year, leveraging on systems, infrastructure, capacities developed and experiences from the 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak.

scholarly journals Pediatric Cancer Genetics Research and an Evolving Preventive Ethics Approach for Return of Results after Death of the Subject

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-537
Author(s):  
Sarah Scollon ◽  
Katie Bergstrom ◽  
Laurence B. McCullough ◽  
Amy L. McGuire ◽  
Stephanie Gutierrez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Genetics ◽  
Recurrence Risk ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
Return Of Results ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
Personal Significance ◽  
Pediatric Diseases ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Preventive Ethics ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

In the pediatric clinical setting, the parent/guardian will almost always be the authorized representative and designated recipient of clinical and research results, making the issue of to whom results should be returned in the pediatric setting less complex than in adult settings. It is also clear that, in genomic research related to pediatric diseases such as cancer, results may be of considerable clinical, ethical, and personal significance for parents in a number of ways, including a genomic explanation of the origin of their child’s cancer, implications for the genetic testing and medical care of other siblings and of the parents themselves, and reproductive planning with regard to the recurrence risk for future children to have an increased risk of cancer. However, what remains unclear is which results should be disclosed, and under what circumstances, to parents of deceased children.

Determinants influencing inbound arrivals to Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 856-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armand Viljoen ◽  
Andrea Saayman ◽  
Melville Saayman
Keyword(s):  
Developed Countries ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
Geographical Factors ◽  
Telecommunication Infrastructure ◽  
Foreign Tourism ◽  
Tourism Arrivals

The goal of this research was to investigate the determinants that influence foreign tourism arrivals to the African continent, firstly as a collective and secondly in different regions, with the aim to foster a greater understanding of how African countries and regions can grow their tourism economies. Using static and dynamic panel estimators, two key findings were identified from this research: (1) tourism to the continent is influenced by income in developed countries, prices, telecommunication infrastructure and geographical factors as well as conservation efforts and (2) the regions in Africa do not all react the same to changes in these factors.

scholarly journals Piracy and the Politics of Social Media

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Fredriksson Almqvist
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Information Politics ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Uk

Since the 1990s, the understanding of how and where politics is made has changed radically. Scholars such as Ulrich Beck and Maria Bakardjieva have discussed how political agency is enacted outside of conventional party organizations, and political struggles increasingly focus on single issues. Over the past two decades, this transformation of politics has become common knowledge, not only in academic research but also in the general political discourse. Recently, the proliferation of digital activism and the political use of social media is often understood to enforce these tendencies. This article analyzes the Pirate Party in relation to these theories, relying on almost 30 interviews with active Pirate Party members in Sweden, the UK, Germany, the USA, and Australia. The Pirate Party was initially formed in 2006, focusing on copyright, piracy, and digital privacy. Over the years, it has developed into a more general democracy movement, with an interest in a wider range of issues. This article analyses how the party’s initial focus on information politics and social media connects to a wider range of political issues and to other social movements, such as Arab Spring protests and Occupy Wall Street. Finally, it discusses how this challenges the understanding of information politics as a single issue agenda.

scholarly journals In the Wake of TICAD V: Japan-Africa Relations Today

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
István Tarrósy
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Bilateral Aid ◽  
African Development ◽  
Business Opportunities ◽  
Major Donors

Abstract The paper looks at how Japan, one of the major donors of African countries, has been redefining its positions on the African continent in terms of bilateral aid and business opportunities, triangular collaboration and multilateral development projects in an increasingly ‘interpolar’ world of international relations. The discussion includes China's expanding presence all over Africa as an important ‘reference point’ for the Japanese public at large and how that may influence Japanese pragmatic foreign policy towards the continent and Japan's involvement in African development. What are Japan's priorities in the wake of hosting the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) early in June 2013 in Yokohama? How does Japan go along with its confident manner of inclusive development and ownership in African societies when at the same time it is challenged by China and other emerging actors? What are the items on Japan's agenda for a re-intensified Africa policy?

scholarly journals HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregorio González-Alcaide ◽  
Marouane Menchi-Elanzi ◽  
Edy Nacarapa ◽  
José-Manuel Ramos-Rincón
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Scientific Activity ◽  
Scientific Production ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Global North ◽  
Aids Research ◽  
Public Health Epidemiology ◽  
Hiv Aids

Abstract Background HIV/AIDS has attracted considerable research attention since the 1980s. In the current context of globalization and the predominance of cooperative work, it is crucial to analyze the participation of the countries and regions where the infection is most prevalent, African continent being the hardest hit (67.5% of estimated cases). This study assesses the participation of African countries in publications on the topic, as well as the degree of equity or influence existing in North-South relations.Methods We identified all articles and reviews of HIV/AIDS indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. We analyzed the scientific production, collaboration, and contributions from African and Middle Eastern countries to scientific activity in the region. The concept of leadership was used to determine the equity in research produced through international collaboration.Results A total of 68,808 documents published from 2010 to 2017 were analyzed. Researchers from North America and Europe participated in 82.14% of the global scientific production on HIV/AIDS, compared to just 21.61% from Africa and the Middle East. Furthermore, the research that did come out of these regions was concentrated in a small number of countries, led by South Africa (41% of the documents). Other features associated with HIV/AIDS research from Africa include the importance of international collaboration from the USA, the UK, and other European countries (75%-93% of the documents) and the limited leadership that is evident (30% to 36% of the documents). Finally, the research to which African countries contributed had a notably different disciplinary orientation, with a predominance of research on public health, epidemiology, and drug therapy.Conclusions It is essential to foster more balance in research output, avoid the concentration of resources that reproduces the global North-South model on the African continent, and focus the research agenda on local priorities. To accomplish this, the global North should strengthen the transfer of research skills and seek equity in cooperative ties, favoring the empowerment of African countries. These efforts should be concentrated in countries with low scientific activity and high incidence and prevalence of the disease. It is also essential to foster intraregional collaborations between African countries.

scholarly journals High speed internet development in Africa using 4G-LTE technology-a review

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 577-585
Author(s):  
Mohamed Njikam ◽  
Nanna S. ◽  
Shahrin S. ◽  
Mohd Fairuz Iskandar Othman
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Telecommunication Networks ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Lte Networks ◽  
Telecommunication Infrastructure ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Populated Region ◽  
4G Lte ◽  
Internet Development

The African continent is ranked second most populated region and has a huge amount of natural resources to be locally transformed or outsourced overseas. The traditional telecommunications system has helped connect people and enabled them to manage their businesses and trading in Africa for a long-time; many African countries have embarked early in changing their network and technology systems during the first years of the information age. Over a few decades ago, the introduction of new telecommunication methods and techniques have influenced much of African countries’ growth via different perspectives. The situation has triggered an enormous interest in people. They analyzed the factors supporting such changes, which in the case of this paper is all about the advent and adoption of LTE/4G-LTE technologies including its service commercialization in Africa. This review article attempts to provide an overview of 4G-LTE networks technologies and the internet; it includes the current evolution of telecommunication networks within and even beyond the African continent, assisted by the 4G-LTE expansion. An extended view is provided throughout this article’s development with respect to what could be expected (or is missing) for the sake of this continent’s telecommunication infrastructure enhancement and a better QoS to Africa’s dwellers.

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