New African Project Targets Faster Response to Future Disease Outbreaks

What the report says

A new Africa-led research initiative is aiming to improve how the continent prepares for and responds to future disease outbreaks. According to Nile Post, the ACT-PREP project was launched at Makerere University School of Public Health in Uganda and is designed to strengthen clinical trials, laboratory systems, disease surveillance, diagnostics, ethics review and regulatory capacity across participating institutions.

Uganda’s Director of Public Health, Dr Daniel Kyabayinze, used the launch to urge better clinical trial readiness and stronger laboratory networks so health systems do not have to build response systems from scratch during an emergency. He said faster preparedness is especially important in outbreaks such as Ebola, Marburg and mpox. The article also says the project seeks to address delays that have historically slowed outbreak responses when research structures are only set up after an emergency begins.

The project’s principal investigator, Prof Rhoda Wanyenze, said ACT-PREP will link 10 African and two European institutions and work with universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. It will also support PhD and postdoctoral training, with a target of at least 700 fellows over five years, to build a larger pool of African scientists for public health emergencies.

Beyond training, the initiative plans to strengthen infrastructure and cross-border collaboration, while exploring artificial intelligence and One Health approaches. In broader context, these kinds of projects are often seen as important because they can help countries generate timely evidence for decisions on vaccines, diagnostics, treatment and disease control during future epidemics.