African Experts Urge Governments to Boost Funding for Health Data Systems
Health experts have issued a strong call for African governments to significantly increase domestic funding for health research and data systems. This move is aimed at ensuring long-term sustainability and maximizing the continent's growing data resources. The appeal was made during a high-level workshop on Pan-African Health and Clinical Trials Data Sharing held in Abuja, where professionals highlighted the critical need for local investment in health infrastructure.
Challenges of External Funding Dependence
Professor Assan Jaye, a Professor of Global Health Education and Research Leadership at the Medical Research Council Gambia, pointed out that while Africa has generated substantial high-quality data on diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV, the region still relies heavily on external funding for research and infrastructure. He warned that this dependence poses a serious threat to long-term sustainability, especially as international donors increasingly expect African countries to take greater ownership of their health investments.
"African governments are still reticent in allocating resources for research, and this has been a long-standing issue. We must begin to prioritise research funding locally to sustain the infrastructure and capacity we have built over time," Jaye emphasized. He explained that the workshop's goal is to expand a regional data repository into a continent-wide platform, enhancing data sharing, collaboration, and innovation in health research.
Evolution of Health Data Platforms
According to Jaye, the Health Data Research Platform for West Africa was initially established to address the rise of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and malaria drug resistance. It has since evolved into a critical repository hosting diverse datasets, including HIV mutations and emerging disease trends, to strengthen policymaking and improve health outcomes. "Data is now central to everything we do, including the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. But for Africa to benefit, we must own, understand and control our data," he added.
The platform is designed to support secondary data analysis, promote cross-country collaboration, and help translate research findings into improved healthcare delivery. Jaye also highlighted innovations such as AI-supported tuberculosis diagnosis using X-ray imaging and language models for interpreting clinical data, showcasing the potential of advanced technologies in health research.
Nigeria's Central Role in Health Interventions
Toyin Togun of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine underscored Nigeria's pivotal role in any regional or continental health intervention due to its large population, diversity, and significant disease burden. "Nigeria is crucial to any intervention in Africa because of its population and the scale of its public health challenges. We must ensure that Nigeria is fully integrated into any pan-African data-sharing initiative," he stated.
Togun identified poor data quality, lack of standardization, and weak infrastructure as major barriers to effective health data management. He stressed the need for secure storage systems and skilled personnel to overcome these challenges. Additionally, participants are working towards an "Abuja Declaration," which outlines commitments from researchers across more than 12 West African countries to strengthen data sharing and collaboration.
Addressing Data Fragmentation and Underutilization
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, noted that although Africa has large volumes of health data, much of it remains fragmented and underutilized. She called for increased investment in building the capacity of female scientists, particularly in data-driven health research, to address this gap.
Yeboah-Manu emphasized the need for greater awareness among policymakers on the importance of data sharing, drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and Ebola outbreaks. "We need to understand that diseases do not respect borders, and without data, we cannot strategise effectively to combat them," she said, highlighting that rapid data exchange is critical for developing diagnostics, vaccines, and effective response strategies.
Timely Initiative for Continental Collaboration
In her remarks, Michelle Nderu of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership described the data-sharing initiative as timely and critical for strengthening collaboration across African institutions. She noted that consolidating fragmented datasets into a secure and accessible platform would support evidence-based policymaking and enhance clinical research capacity across the continent.
This collective effort aims to transform Africa's health data landscape, ensuring that the continent can leverage its resources for better health outcomes and sustainable development.
