Summary & Key Points
"AFROSCREEN is a multi-institutional project designed to strengthen genomic sequencing and surveillance capacities in West and Central Africa, as well as Madagascar."
AFROSCREEN is a multi-institutional project designed to strengthen genomic sequencing and surveillance capacities in West and Central Africa and Madagascar. In Côte d’Ivoire, AFROSCREEN involves two international networks: the National Agency for AIDS and Viral Hepatitis Research (ANRS), which includes the PAC-CI Program, the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP), and the Molecular Biology Unit (UBM) of the Treichville University Hospital (CHU); and the Pasteur Institutes (IP) network, which includes the Pasteur Institute of Côte d’Ivoire (IPCI).
A delegation of seven Ivorian experts from the ANRS and IP networks working on the AFROSCREEN project visited the Senegalese capital from June 28 to 30, 2024. This was during a regional symposium held in Dakar on the theme: “A genomic surveillance network for emerging pathogens.”
Dr. Moh and Dr. Abo from the PAC-CI Program; Professor Koffi Stéphane and Mr. Kofi Kobina from the UBM of the Treichville CHU; Dr. Amani and Professor Tiembré from the INHP; and Dr. Kadio from the IPCI, along with their Senegalese hosts and other experts from eleven countries, met at the Azalaï Hotel in Dakar to discuss strategies for consolidating the sequencing laboratory network in West and Central Africa and to develop a long-term sustainability plan for AFROSCREEN activities.
The discussions focused on the following key areas: facilitating face-to-face dialogue and experience-sharing among West and Central African partners; reviewing scientific and technical progress since the project’s inception and identifying structural actions to strengthen the network; prioritizing new challenges and perspectives (both scientific and network-related); and exploring synergies with existing regional networks to identify concrete future actions for both the Pathogen Genomics Initiative (PGI) and AFROSCREEN in genomic surveillance.
The participation of experts from the PAC-CI Program, the UBM of the Treichville CHU, the INHP, and the IPCI included plenary sessions, roundtable discussions, and a poster session. The topics covered ranged from foundational knowledge on sequencing and genomic surveillance to the implementation of AFROSCREEN activities and lessons learned since its launch.
(Left to right) Mr. Kofi Kobina, Dr. Amani, and Dr. Abo Yao, standing next to one of the three posters presented at the symposium.
While participants agreed that AFROSCREEN has positively impacted the health systems of the 13 participating countries, they emphasized that its scheduled end on August 31, 2024, risks losing all progress made. As a result, participants called for an extension of the project, with adjustments such as greater involvement of social sciences in its activities.
To ensure the long-term viability of AFROSCREEN activities, experts recommended the following measures: increasing integration of project activities into national health systems to sustain these efforts, engaging social science actors to better understand pathogen emergence, and leveraging project data from the past three years of implementation.
Since its launch in 2021, AFROSCREEN has provided laboratories with equipment and reagents, trained laboratory and epidemiology teams, and contributed to the establishment and strengthening of surveillance systems for SARS-CoV-2 and other priority viruses such as Ebola, Marburg, measles, mpox, dengue, and Rift Valley fever.
