GenPath Africa workshops: Developing wastewater-based surveillance and treatments of drug-resistant TB to improve public health responses to pandemics
GenPath team members and regional stakeholders attending the wastewater-based surveillance workshop at at ILRI Campus in Nairobi, Kenya, on 24-25 July 2023.
In 2023, GenPath Africa team members and regional stakeholders convened in two workshops to discuss the project’s goals of wastewater-based pathogen surveillance in Kenya and the development of precision medicine and precision public health to improve treatments of drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa.
The first stakeholder workshop “Building a sustainable wastewater-based surveillance utility for pandemic preparedness and prevention” was organised by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and took place on 24-25 July 2023 at ILRI Campus in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop was attended by over 50 participants including representatives from the government international environmental agencies, international development organisations and biotech companies. The main goal of this workshop was to highlight the utility of wastewater-based surveillance systems in the region, because the benefits of wastewater-based research and a better understanding of sewerage infrastructure hold immense potential for public health efforts against current and future pandemics.
Dr Sam Oyola, Principal Investigator in GenPath Africa and lead of the project’s One Health work package highlights the importance of this research: “Today we are glad to host this workshop on building a sustainable wastewater-based surveillance utility for pandemic preparedness and prevention. A foreknowledge of what pathogens are circulating in the population and what is shed to the environment through wastewater is crucial for advance preparedness against potential disease outbreak, especially in low- and middle-income countries where clinical disease surveillance data is suboptimal.”
GenPath team members and regional stakeholders attending the workshop on treatments for drug-resistant TB at the Biomedical Research Institute at Stellenbosch University, South Africa on 2 November, 2023.
On 2 November 2023, GenPath Africa team members from Stellenbosch University and the University of Antwerp held a second stakeholder meeting at the Biomedical Research Institute at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
The workshop opened with an introduction of the GenPath Africa Project and its vision to enhance Next Generation Sequencing capacity and applications to further expand the Network of Genomic Surveillance in South Africa and to include tuberculosis (TB) and emerging pathogens in its surveillance efforts. Central to the meeting's agenda was the planning of the implementation research study for drug-resistant (DR) TB in the Western Cape Province of South Africa - Precision Action for Rifampicin-Resistant TB (PARR-TB). The goal of PARR-TB is to support progress towards rifampicin-resistant TB elimination by unlocking the full potential of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS). Initially focussing on the Western Cape Province, the initiative intends to blueprint an approach that can be seamlessly adapted and implemented across diverse settings. GenPath Africa team members discussed how WGS, as a tool in PARR-TB, will be integrated into the diagnostic workflow at the National Health Laboratory Services, Green Point, to demonstrate how WGS can help identify and improve treatment of DR-TB for individual patients and can help develop precision medicine and precision prevention strategies against drug-resistant pathogens.
Prof Annelies Van Rie, Principal Investigator of PARR-TB from the University of Antwerp, emphasized the collaborative nature of the initiative, stating: “We are truly seeking the input of stakeholders working in the DR-TB program in the Western Cape Province of South Africa as their insights will be instrumental in shaping the study, ensuring its effectiveness and practicality, and transforming it into a valuable asset rather than a logistical burden.” Co-PI Prof Rob Warren from Stellenbosch University added: “We believe that by bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise, we can not only enhance our research but also contribute significantly to the public health landscape in the Western Cape and beyond.”
The meeting concluded on a forward-looking note, addressing the optimisation of collaboration and communication channels between researchers and public health institutions. The integration of WGS is anticipated to streamline the exchange of information on drug-resistant pathogens between countries, with the ultimate goal of strengthening public health responses to existing and future pandemics.
