The reason for the variable ways in which African patients respond to medicines is not well understood, and that has partly to do with the low number of clinical trials done on the continent.

This is according to Kelly Chibale, a professor of organic chemistry at UCT and director of the UCT Holistic Drug Discovery and Development (H3D) Centre.

He was speaking during the two-day Nature Forum on Health Equity and the Nature Awards for Inclusive Health Research conference of academics and health researchers at the Biomedical Research Institute of Stellenbosch University in Parow on Wednesday October 23 and Thursday October 24.

Experts from Stellenbosch University, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, UCT, UWC and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were among those who attended the event, which was held for the first time in Brazil in July last year and focuses on health research to build global health equity, according to Helena Jensen, the head of grants and awards of Springer Nature, a global academic publishing company that co-hosted the event with the Biomedical Research Institute of Stellenbosch University.

“Despite accounting for at least 20% of the global disease burden, we have a very low volume of clinical trials. So on average, about three percent of the global clinical trials that happen, happen on this continent," said Professor Chibale.

Professor Nicki Tiffin, the deputy director of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute at UWC spoke about investing in genomics in Africa.

Genomics is a field of biology focused on studying all the DNA of an organism.

Professor Tiffin said their first challenge was that the whole genome sequencing was too expensive and there were not many facilities doing human whole genome sequencing on the African continent.

“A second challenge is that people do not like blood draws, and it also adds to the cost in the field, because you need a phlebotomist, you need different laboratories, etc.,” she said.

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist and pro-vice chancellor for African health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, talked about her collaborative work in improving TB-HIV treatments, and preventing HIV in young women. She is also a co-founder of the Comprehensive International Program of Research on Aids (CIPRA).

“We look at transmission dynamics, who is infecting who, where are these infections taking place, why and what and how vaginal dysbiosis enhances HIV risk. So this is a key characteristic around the epidemic and why we continue to see high incidence rates in Africa despite all of the interventions that are being put into place,” she said.

“More recent data from schools tell us that there is a pattern where HIV in boys under 24 remains rare. In women, you can see the rapid increase from about age 15 all the way to the time women are 24."

Raji Tajudeen, the acting deputy director general of Africa CDC stressed the importance of involving the community activists in projects.

The Inclusive Health Research Awards were then presented to Monica Malta from the University of Toronto in Canada, Mark Faghy from the University of Derby in the UK and Kelsey Chapman from Griffith University in Australia.

Ms Jensen said: “The idea behind the awards is that we look for researchers who have gone out of their way to carry out research that patients have suggested and want and need.

“We believe that in health research, it is important that it starts with the patients and that researchers should get to know the patients.”

Mark Faghy, from the University of Derby in the UK received an award for his research profiling the determinants of long Covid, aiming to understand the lived experiences of those who continue to be affected by symptoms. Picture: Deborah Rossouw.

Kelsey Chapman, from Griffith University in Australia, was awarded for a project that collects data on scientists with disabilities to design dignified services and systems to enhance health outcomes. Picture: Deborah Rossouw.

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Health researchers give insights into their work