Welcome and greetings from the board and co-chairs.
It is encouraging to hear Africa being spoken of as one of the more favoured destinations for investment and growth today.
The creation of African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDI) is part of this positive African momentum, its success lies in our ability to effectively utilise regional collaboration and planning to create economic development and prosperity.
Africa has committed to increased collaboration in Science and Technology. The 2007 Heads of State AU Summit declared the year as one for building constituencies and champions for science, technology and innovation in Africa.
ANDI gives effect to the partnerships of champions through its commitment to turn fundamental research findings into innovative treatments that will be available and accessible to patients on the continent.
Africa is not yet at the forefront of research and innovation, but Africa does have capacity to become a world leader in five or six disciplines and clinical research is one of them. The potential for building a seamless connection between basic science research to clinical research is one we need to exploit fully. This will require us to create strong laboratory support for clinical research and to translate this into the application of novel technologies in the field ( diagnostics, vaccines and drugs).
One of the worrying features of the growth in clinical research is the fact that almost all the funding comes from international sources. We need to secure increased African support for such research. There are many pharmaceuticals companies that are promoting open innovation in basic research. They have begun clinical testing and development in low-cost emerging countries, but much of their sector research funding continues to be spent in the developed world.
We need to ensure that our ANDI supported initiatives create a skills base that will make it easy for these companies to move their research units to Africa so that our scientists play a full role in innovation and new drugs development.
Africa does have the skills and ANDI has begun illustrate this we have researchers spread across Africa who are involved in ground-breaking research, but they need to get the necessary support and acknowledgement within Africa. Again ANDI is doing that.
We also need to draw on our skilled brothers and sisters in the diaspora in order to create a multi-national combined front in the quest for African solutions for Africa.
We are still at the formative stages of ANDI but I hope the reports we will provide to you during this workshop will convince you of our determination to create a vibrant organisation that will draw researchers into a results oriented collaboration that will create value for Africa and for the world.
I hope you will enjoy the meeting and the opportunity to create working networks and partnerships.
Note to editors
The goals of ANDI include:
-
Increase research and development collaboration among African institutions and countries;
-
Foster public-private partnerships within Africa to support the development and manufacture of new drugs and health products;
-
Generate and manage intellectual property and explore innovative mechanisms to encourage and reward local innovation, including research drawing on traditional medicine;
-
Promote long term economic sustainability through supporting R&D.
