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World TB Day puts the spotlight on tuberculosis (TB), a poverty-related infectious disease of epidemic proportions. Currently, it causes more deaths than any other infectious disease, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. Every year, an estimated 10 million people fall ill; in 2019, 1.4 million people died from TB. All members of the United Nations committed to ending TB as an epidemic by 2030. However, the 2020 WHO progress report concluded that the world is not on schedule to achieve the 2022 targets. The COVID-19 pandemic even threatens to reverse recent progress towards global TB targets. Chronic global underfunding of TB research means that cheap, accessible point-of-care tests, better vaccines and simple, short treatment regimens are lacking. Ending TB depends on the development and rapid uptake of new tools and innovation.

“Our steady commitment to fight TB has led to a growing R&D portfolio of grants on novel diagnostics, more patient-friendly treatments, and experimental vaccines for pre-and post-exposure use – especially targeting vulnerable populations. Moreover, we have invested in international coordination of TB vaccine R&D, and preparation of ground for a new global TB vaccine roadmap. EDCTP is convinced a concerted global R&D effort will end TB.”
Dr Michael Makanga, EDCTP Executive Director

Visit https://www.edctp.org/news/world-tb-day-promise-ending-tb-epidemic/ to learn more about EDCTPs efforts to end TB.

The Stephen Lawn TB-HIV Research Leadership Prize was established in 2016 through a global partnership between the TB Centre in London, The Desmond Tutu HIV Centre in Cape Town and The Union. It acknowledges young researchers under 40 years of age who are conducting promising work focused on reducing the disease burden of TB and HIV/AIDS in Africa. This year’s winner is Dr Christine Sekaggya-Wiltshire, who leads the HIV-TB clinic at the Infectious Diseases Institute at Makerere University in Kampala. Dr Sekaggya-Wiltshire supervises care for complex cases of TB that are referred from health centres, and has conducted pharmacokinetic studies on anti-TB drugs in HIV patients.

What is mathematical epidemiology and how has it traditionally been used? What can epidemiological trends tell us and what is the importance of genomic surveillance? How can mathematical modelling support planning of COVID-19 interventions? Join us to review the history of mathematical epidemiology and modelling, its world-wide prominence over the last 12 months, and why we are discussing the science behind COVID-19 modelling and epidemiology data today. We will look at monitoring of genetic variants, communication beyond the science to decision makers, COVID-19 vaccine and intervention modelling, and how to interpret scenarios (not forecasts) for decision making.

Preliminary Programme
12:00 Setting the Scene and Interpreting Epidemiologicial Trends, Melissa Penny and Nakul Chitnis, Swiss TPH
12:25 Genomic Surveillance and Epidemiological Trends, Sarah Nadeau, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich)
12:50 Understanding Intervention Scenarios, Andrew Shattock, Swiss TPH
13:15 Q&A
13:30 End of Session

For more information and to register visit - https://www.swisstph.ch/en/about/events/ves/

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the role of science, technology and innovation is unprecedentedly and explicitly recognised as a vital driver of sustainability. The EU and the African Union equally recognise that a sustainable transition to knowledge-based economies needs to rely on science, research and innovation as cornerstones of their strategies.
In light of this, Friends of Europe is delighted to support, the EU and the African Union in the launch of the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) Pilot Programme, a novel pan-African instrument to support scientific excellence with a European support of €25 million from the EU’s Development Cooperation Instrument. The pilot programme aims to enhance the conditions in which African knowledge is created and disseminated, and to make the African research ecosystem less vulnerable to brain drain.
As some 375 million young people are expected to reach working age in Africa within the next 15 years, investing in people, in particular in youth, is one of the cornerstones of the Africa-Europe partnership.

Incase you missed it visit https://www.friendsofeurope.org/events/virtual-launch-of-the-african-research-initiative-for-scientific-excellence-arise-pilot-programme/