Events 11/01/21 AMED International Joint Symposium 2021: Promotion of Infectious Disease Research Cooperation between Africa and Japan

By having relevant researchers from Japan’s research institutes who have a track record of collaborative research with African countries share their research results and experiences, the symposium will examine the possibility of further research collaborations across R&D projects, programs, organizations and countries.

Japan's scientific and technological capabilities have been highly evaluated internationally and are one of Japan's major resources. The "Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS)" is a program jointly implemented by AMED and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with the aim of making use of these resources in diplomacy and contributing to the resolution of global issues. Since its launch in 2008, the program's research in Africa covering infectious diseases has consisted of nine research topics in six countries (Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Gabon, South Africa, and Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Japanese researchers have established a rare relationship of trust with partner country researchers through SATREPS.

Research and development themes include epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, and establishment of treatments methods for infectious diseases that are an issue in the country concerned. In particular, many projects are working on the development of diagnostic tools that can be used on-site, and these developments are being carried out in cooperation with many private companies. It is impossible to manufacture, sell and spread the use of diagnostic equipment without the cooperation of private companies. Further cooperation with private companies is expected. In addition, the key to sustainability is how to establish a cooperative system with government agencies such as the ministry of health in the African countries in order to implement the results obtained through the research and development into society. The research representatives of SATREPS are required not only for their research and development skills, but also for their extraordinary leadership, communication and negotiation skills.

In addition to SATREPS, AMED also has a research program focusing on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Africa, the "International Joint Research Program for the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Africa." The program aims to contribute using Japanese science and technology to tackle NTDs, which are impeding the growth and development of African countries. Accordingly, research and development is being carried out to establish preventive, diagnostic, and treatment methods for the control of NTDs, build public health management systems, and for policy recommendations. At the same time, the goal is to develop and improve the capabilities of the partner country institutions so that they can continue to deal with diseases on an independent basis after the joint research period has ended, through training local research personnel and establishing a research and development system. Among the countries with a proven track record are Zambia, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire.

By utilizing its research achievements, cooperative frameworks and research bases established by the projects, AMED will intend to contribute to Japan's efforts in science and technology diplomacy through bilateral and multilateral international joint research in African countries.

The symposium will discuss the cooperative relationship with African research institutes that Japanese researchers have been building through the support of AMED, research and development of diagnostic tools for developing countries through collaboration with companies and/or public private partnerships (PPP) , and the possibility of building a research network on medical field in Africa.

2021.11.1 Mon 15:00-19:00（JST）

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