By Folasade Akpan
Prof. Assan Jaye, Professor of Global Health Education and Research Leadership at the Medical Research Council (MRC), The Gambia, has called on African governments to prioritise funding for health research to ensure sustainability.
Jaye made the call in Abuja at a high-level workshop on Pan-African Health and Clinical Trials Data Sharing, adding that it would also maximise the continent’s vast data resources.
The workshop was organised by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in collaboration with MRC Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
The event was alongside the West African Network of Excellence for Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria (WANETAM).
He said that while Africa had generated substantial high-quality data on diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV, the continent still relied heavily on external funding for research and infrastructure development.
According to him, the dependence poses a threat to sustainability, especially as international funders increasingly expect greater domestic investment from African governments.
“African governments are still reticent in allocating resources for research, and this has been a long-standing issue.
“We must begin to prioritise research funding locally to sustain the infrastructure and capacity we have built over time,” he said.
Jaye explained that the workshop was convened to expand an existing regional data repository into a pan-African platform that would enable better data sharing, collaboration and innovation in health research.
He said the Health Data Research Platform for West Africa was initially developed in response to rising cases of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and malaria drug resistance across the region.
He noted that the platform had since grown into a critical repository for diverse datasets, including HIV mutations and emerging disease patterns, which could inform policy and improve health outcomes.
“Data is now central to everything we do, including the use of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.
“However, for Africa to benefit, we must own, understand and control our data,” he said.
Jaye added that the platform would support secondary data analysis by researchers, enhance collaboration and ultimately translate research findings into improved healthcare delivery.
He also highlighted ongoing efforts to deploy innovative tools, including Artificial Intelligence for tuberculosis diagnosis using X-ray imaging, as well as language models for interpreting clinical data.
Also speaking, Prof. Toyin Togun of LSHTM, described Nigeria as central to any regional or continental health intervention due to its population size and disease burden.
Togun said Nigeria’s leadership role in tackling tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases made it a strategic hub for advancing data-driven health research in West Africa.
“Nigeria is crucial to any intervention in Africa because of its population, diversity and the scale of its public health challenges.
“We must ensure that Nigeria is fully integrated into any pan-African data-sharing initiative,” he said.
He, however, identified poor data quality, inadequate standardisation, and weak infrastructure as major challenges to effective data collection, storage and dissemination.
According to him, ensuring high-quality, representative data and investing in secure storage systems and skilled personnel are essential for maximising the value of health data.
Togun said participants at the workshop were working towards an “Abuja Declaration” that would outline commitments by researchers and institutions across more than 12 West African countries to strengthen data sharing and research collaboration.
Prof. Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, underscored the need for greater awareness among policymakers on the importance of data sharing.
She said effective cross-border collaboration depended on harmonised data governance policies and a shared understanding of the value of data in addressing common health challenges.
Drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and Ebola outbreaks, Yeboah-Manu said rapid data sharing had been critical to the development of vaccines, diagnostics and response strategies.
“We need to understand that diseases do not respect borders, and without data, we cannot strategise effectively to combat them,” she said.
She emphasised that although large volumes of health data existed across Africa, they were often fragmented and underutilised, limiting their impact on research and policy.
Yeboah-Manu also highlighted the critical role of women in health research, particularly in data collection and clinical trials, and called for increased investment in building the capacity of female scientists.
In her remarks, Michelle Nderu, an officer with the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), described the initiative as timely and essential for strengthening collaboration across institutions.
Nderu said consolidating fragmented datasets into a trusted and accessible platform would enhance research capacity and inform evidence-based health policies across the continent.
She emphasised that improved data sharing would not only foster trust among institutions but also accelerated progress in clinical research and healthcare delivery.
The workshop brought together researchers, policymakers and development partners to develop a roadmap for a unified African health data repository, with a focus on governance, accessibility and sustainability.
Participants expressed optimism that stronger collaboration and increased domestic investment would position Africa to better harness its data for improved health outcomes and scientific advancement. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Josephine Obute/Abiemwense Moru
