Why it鈥檚 worth investing in Africa鈥檚 scientists of the future
Following our partnership with GlaxoSmithKline in Africa, GSK vice-president for Africa and developing countries, Ramil Burden, discusses the importance of supporting African science.
As a healthcare company, scientists are our lifeblood. From analytical chemists in our spectrometry laboratories to vaccinologists, our scientists are at the cutting edge of discovering tomorrow鈥檚 medicines and vaccines.
The world in which our company operates is changing fast. Look at sub-Saharan Africa, where as lifestyles change, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer and diabetes are on the rise. At the same time, the region is still grappling with infectious diseases such as malaria that claim hundreds of thousands of lives and drain healthcare systems. Getting a handle on this dual disease burden is key to unlocking the region鈥檚 economic potential.
That means we need to foster scientific talent in parts of the world where a large research and development base has not always existed. By swelling the ranks of skilled scientists in these regions, not only can we help tackle current and future healthcare challenges, but also support training and education 鈥� and give more brilliant scientific minds opportunities in their home country.
Supporting African scientists
One of the ways in which GSK is supporting this is by teaming up with our (PACN). Launched in 2007, this network connects the global chemical science community to build capacity and enable excellence in chemistry across Africa. Through our new partnership we will work together over the next five years to support training and development of analytical chemists across Africa.
Support from GSK will enable 400 scientists to be trained on various technical chemistry skills required to solve healthcare challenges such as quality control for manufacturing medicines and consumer health products. This training will be delivered through four courses each year across sub-Saharan Africa, beginning in Kenya in March 2016. Workshops will be run in conjunction with universities and will offer the opportunity to apply analytical chemistry skills in the real world through a visit to a GSK facility. Importantly, up to 10 African trainers will be skilled up to deliver the workshops so that the programme can endure beyond the life of our partnership.
At the heart of these workshops is a focus on analytical chemistry. Skills to detect, identify and measure are integral to any type of scientific or technological development. As is well-known to many of you, analytical chemistry is fundamental to identifying promising compounds that could deliver new medicines as well as materials science, soil science and biochemistry, for example.
Analytical chemists are also at the forefront of the fight against counterfeit medicines 鈥� which is a challenge across the world, but particularly in developing countries. According to a 2012 paper in Lancet Infectious Diseases 鈥� cited by the IFPMA 鈥� 35% of anti-malaria medicines in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa failed chemical analysis. Poor quality and fake malaria medicines can lead to drug resistance and inadequate treatment.
Importance of analytical chemistry
If scientists in these regions are to have the best possible chance of discovering new medicines and fighting fake ones, they need the skills and resources to do that. It is no surprise that scientists across sub-Saharan Africa consistently identify analytical training and infrastructure as the areas where they are in need of greatest assistance and are most interested in collaboration.
This new partnership and the training it offers go some way towards answering this call. Other collaborations are needed too, be that scholarships, training workshops or joint research programmes. At GSK, we have also launched an 鈥榦pen lab鈥� dedicated to researching NCDs in Africa. From its hub in Stevenage, the virtual open lab will help African researchers tap into the resources that GSK has and also focus expertise on deciphering the particular nuances of these diseases in Africa so we can ultimately do more to prevent and treat them.
All this is part and parcel of GSK鈥檚 continuing commitment to Africa 鈥� a region where we are investing around 拢100 million over the next five years to spur economic development and improve access to healthcare through building new factories; partnering with universities; and training health workers. Nurturing the scientists of tomorrow is key to this approach. Creating a strong, home-grown research base with the skills to produce the medicines the region needs can help enable Africa to thrive.