UGANDA – The Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) and partners have concluded a one-week hands-on training on malaria genomic epidemiology and data analytics in Kampala, Uganda.

The interactive modules in the present training workshop comprised of introduction to malaria epidemiology, molecular genomics, data management, bioinformatics and data analysis tools.

Furthermore, the interactive modules focused on translation of data into meaningful results, ways to disseminate these results in multiple forums along with the current state of high priority threats in the African region.

The workshop also provided an opportunity for attendees to discuss the challenges in implementing parasite genotyping into national surveillance frameworks such technology and a chance for participants to work together across institutions and countries to identity practical solutions.

In addition, the latest training will act as one of the avenues to bridge the gap between researchers who develop tools and generate data and the program officers who apply data to inform malaria control and elimination.

The training was also a unique opportunity to bring together researchers and officers from the national malaria control program to support the expansion of malaria molecular surveillance to monitor the spread of drug and diagnostic resistance variants across Africa.

According to Africa CDC, the emergence and spread of drug-resistant malaria, mutated parasites that skip detection by commonly used rapid diagnostic tests, and the resurgence of malaria transmission in multiple countries are major threats to the control and ultimate elimination of malaria.

The continental public health agency of the African Union (AU) said a total of 34 participants from 7 African Union Member States successfully completed the training while noting that participating countries include Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, DRC, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Sudan.

Moreover , trainers from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya, the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) in Ethiopia, and Brown University were also involved in the workshop.

The agency further said that participants were nominated from both research and public health institutions in the participating countries, with two training pathways tailored to the background and most pressing needs of the two groups.

Africa CDC highlighted that the participants of this training were equipped with knowledge and skills required for the application of malaria genomic data for programmatic needs.

The agency explained that there is an urgent need to expand the workforce for the generation, analysis, interpretation and utilization of malaria molecular surveillance (MMS) data to curb the emergence and spread of drug-resistant malaria.

The knowledge and skills gained from this training workshop have the potential to further expand MMS in public health settings by facilitating networking and exchange of ideas between those working in programmatic and research settings,” said Bryan Greenhouse, Associate Professor and Co-director of the EPPIcenter program at the University of California, San Francisco.

 Africa CDC made the project a success through its Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI).

Partners in the project include Infectious Diseases Research Collaboration (IDRC) in Uganda, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Africa CDC has also collaborated with IDRC, UCSF and JHU to develop and deploy an interactive, hands-on workshop, bringing together programmatic and research personnel to understand the uses of malaria genomics in augmenting public health surveillance.

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