With the ever increasing inter-state cooperation and dependence, there is need to devise ways of fighting diseases and pests that affect crops, animals and humans in the entire eastern African region.
It is with this in mind that scientists from countries in the eastern Africa came together to formulate a policy that will enable easier identification and handling of infectious diseases in the region.
According to Dr. Otim Nape, the chairman of Africa Innovations Institute, if the policy had been in place earlier, crop and animal diseases like the cassava mosaic, cassava brown streak, banana bacterial wilt and others would have been easily countered.
Scientists scientists in human health, veterinary and the crop sectors gathered at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala last week to discuss the formulation of this policy. They noted that Africa faces immense pressure from infectious diseases.
Dr. Otim said the regions’ social and economic status was at stake: “These diseases are threatening our staple foods and will lead to poverty.” He said, for example, most of Uganda’s agricultural exports pass through Kenya and if nothing is done to harmonise the control of these diseases, exportation will become a problem. He said a few years ago, Uganda could not export chicken or beef to Kenya because the Kenyans feared that the exports might aid the spread of diseases to their country. “It is a very big challenge but we should not run away from it. We have to come together and fight it,” Otim said.
Prof Mark Rweyemamu from the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, said 60% of the infectious diseases such Ebola, Avian Influenza (bird flu) and swine flu are transmitted from animals to humans.
There has been no clear policy to guide scientists in the region. “We now want to establish a common centre of excellence for infectious diseases which affect humans, crops and animals,” Otim said.
The centre will be called the Eastern African Centre for Infectious Diseases.
The scientists also came up with a regional strategy, structure and scope of controlling infectious diseases.
“Most of the time when we are faced with strange diseases, we source for assistance from outside Africa,” Otim said. Under the policy is the issue of one medicine for one disease. He referred to diseases such as sleeping sickness that affect both humans and animals.
The framework was partly funded by the African Union (AU).
