By Hamu Madzedze
The International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) has launched a four million united states dollars catalytic grant for pathogen genomics.
Pathogen genomics analyses the genetic code of viruses , bacteria and other disease-causing organisms in order to have an understanding on how infectious they are ,how deadly they are and how they spread and with this information scientists and public health experts can identify and track pathogens to prevent and respond to outbreaks as part of a broader disease surveillance system and develop treatments and vaccines.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the grant is aimed at organisations working in pathogen genomic surveillance and will support projects across the world particularly in low-and middle-income countries.
WHO Director for Collaborative Intelligence Sara Hersey said genomic surveillance is a critical tool for countries to respond to public health threats.
"Access to genomics has been highly uneven and there is a risk that the incredible capabilities built up during the COVID-19 pandemic will be lost as the world's focus shifts" said Hersey.
She added that the fund will support the sustainable implementation of genomic surveillance in countries at all income levels outside of pandemics to enable maintainance of these critical capabilities within national health systems.
Wellcome's Director of Infectious Disease Alex Pym said pathogen genomics and surveillance are key tools for researchers ,policy-makers and healthcare workers to rapidly identify and respond to outbreaks or the emergency of drug-resistant strains.
"This fund will generate the knowledge on how to move from tracking a pandemic to detecting new threats to public health and ensure that genomic surveillance gets sustainability embedded in healthcare systems" said Pym.
Meanwhile The Rockefeller Foundation's Vice President for Health Manisha Bhinge stressed the importance of accessibility of pathogen genomics in all countries and communities.
"Pathogen genomics must become accessible to all countries and communities to ensure that we are prepared for rising pandemic and epidemic risks in the era of climate change", said Bhinge
The grant has been provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,The Rockefeller Foundation and Wellcome to support the International Pathogen Surveillance Network which is a new global network of pathogen surveillance actors convened by WHO through a Secretariat at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin.
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