ZIMBABWE – The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), through the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), has partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) to support the ongoing effort to strengthen Zimbabwe’s genomic sequencing capacity.
Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, in collaboration with WHO, conducted a situation analysis of COVID-19 genomic surveillance aimed at identifying successes, gaps and challenges faced so far and to make recommendations to further strengthen genomic surveillance capacity in Zimbabwe.
Key recommendations included incorporating genomic surveillance in the national budget to promote sustainability, partnering with research laboratories and local universities to train as well as building a workforce with genomic surveillance expertise.
Dr Raiva Simbi, MoHCC Laboratory Services Director, said “The visit by WHO/AFRO genomic sequencing experts was welcome and timely as this gave us an opportunity to identify gaps and strengthen our genomic surveillance.”
Dr Raiva Simbi observed that with the recent re-emergence of Marburg virus and monkeypox in the African region, it’s important for Zimbabwe to strengthen the countries sequencing capacity beyond COVID-19 to other diseases.
Information from genetic surveillance, used together with clinical and epidemiological data, guides the development of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostic assays as well as decisions on public health and social measures.
According to WHO, Zimbabwe is well capacitated for sequencing and has acquired basic knowledge for sequencing and bioinformatics analysis in line with WHO’s ongoing efforts to strengthen genomic surveillance in the African region.
Genomic sequencing is a process used by scientists and public health experts to track the spread of viruses, how the viruses are changing and how those changes may affect public health thus it is one of the valuable tools in the global, regional, and national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, says WHO.
“Information from genetic surveillance, used together with clinical and epidemiological data, guides the development of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostic assays as well as decisions on public health and social measures,” the World Health Organization highlighted.
WHO disclosed that the Ministry of Health and Child Care introduced genomic sequencing in May 2021, noting that surveillance for COVID-19 was done through repurposing laboratory departments that had hitherto been dedicated to other viral diseases.
“Financial support for genomic sequencing through WHO, is being provided by the African Development Bank as well as Health Pool Fund donors that include the European Union and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO),” the agency further said.
At the onset of the mission, the Ministry of Health and Child Care convened a stakeholders meeting during which the WHO/AFRO experts discussed with partners supporting genomic surveillance and other key areas of COVID-19 response in Zimbabwe including the
The genomic sequencing partners include the Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC), the African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology (AiBST), African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI) and City Health Departments.
Clinical Trials Research Center (UZCHS-CTRC), Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Cordaid, Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), Global Fund (GF), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNDP, US Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Bank were also partners.
In addition, the meeting was followed by site support visits to four laboratories namely the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory (NMRL), Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital laboratory, Mbare Poly Clinic and Upper East Laboratory.
“Zimbabwe has already done a lot to institutionalize genomic surveillance, and to enhance these gains, the country should continue to screen samples for new variants and monitor the population for any outbreaks,” added Rachel Aquilla, WHO AFRO Medical Officer for Laboratory.
Liked this article? Sign up to receive our regular email newsletters, focused on Africa and World’s healthcare industry, directly into your inbox. SUBSCRIBE HERE
