) A Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Christian Happi, says Nigeria’s ability to produce its own vaccine and diagnostics capacity, will determine future pandemic in the country.
Happi of the Department of Biological Sciences, Redeemer’s University, Ede in Osun, made the assertion at a webinar on Thursday.
The webinar was organised by The Conversation Africa- a platform that discusses critical socioeconomic and political issues across the continent.
Its theme was: “Nigeria and the Next Pandemic: Preparedness, Response and Vaccine.”
Happi said the over reliance of Nigeria and many African countries on the outside world for diagnostic assistance and vaccines makes the country and continent vulnerable.
He called for accelerated vaccine production processes through collaboration of the public health experts with the academia, and the private sector to enhance the country’s preparedness against the next pandemic.
“How come we cannot provide vaccine for Nigeria? Do we need another pandemic before we can get a biobank running?
“How come with all the knowledge and achievements in Nigeria and the Diaspora, we aren’t able to produce a vaccine.
“Were attempts made to produce vaccine in this country? The answer is Yes. Was it moved forward? No.
“It is very crucial for Nigeria and Africa to invest in vaccine security.
“It is dangerous for a country of over 200 million population not to have a single facility that can help provide vaccine in case of emergency.
“It is dangerous for a continent of over 1.3 billion people not to have a vaccine production facilities that can help the continent respond to epidemics or pandemic,” the expert said.
He said South Africa, with the support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank, recently made an announcement on vaccine production.
The expert advised other countries to take a cue from such collaboration to strengthen their preparedness.
Happi, also Director, African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, expressed concern over the country’s preparedness to manage a surge in COVID-19 cases, considering the increasing rate of infection in some West African countries.
He said that at the peak of the pandemic, the treatment centres in the country were active.
Happi, however, said that declining cases had seen a deactivation of most of the treatment centres across the country.
He said: “My last interaction, as a member of the West Africa COVID-19 Task Force, infections in Liberia is up by 1,666 per cent, infections in Sierra Leone is up 1,589 per cent.
“And, we have infections in some other parts of Africa; over two thousand per cent increases.
“The question is, do we have what it takes, if we have a surge in the country?
“Can those new centres be reactivated? Do we have the human resources?”
The expert said the country had done well sequencing the first genome in Africa, adding that there was inadequate genome data to know what’s going on in the country.
“We know at the moment that we have about 45 different variants circulating in Nigeria.
“We have identified variants of concerns, we’ve identified variants under investigation and variants of interests in the country.
“The questions that arise at this moment is that, do we know exactly the virus of the variants that are circulating in different parts of the country? The answer to that is No,” he said.
Happi stressed the need to move forward and correct the identified weaknesses through strengthening of the nation’s healthcare system.
“It is very crucial for Nigeria to invest in health security, not just speeches, but actions,” he said. (NAN)
