Bridging the genomic data gap in Africa: implications for global disease burdens

Abstract

This paper highlights the gap in the use of genomic data of Africans for global research efforts for disease cures. Genomic data represents an important tool used in disease research for understanding how diseases affect several populations and how these differences can be harnessed for the development of effective cures especially vaccines that have an impact at the genetic level e.g., RNA vaccines.This paper then provides a review of global genomic data status where three continents are reported to be the major contributor of genomic data to repositories used for disease research and the development of vaccines and medicines around the world.We reviewed the most recently published information about genetic data inclusiveness of populations, explaining how genomic data of Africans is lacking in global research efforts that cater towards the eradication of pandemics via the development of vaccines and other cures. We also discuss the implication of this non-inclusiveness for global disease burdens and indicate where changes need to be made in the last part of the paper.Lastly, the entire centers on some general policy recommendations to fully include African genomic data in such global genetic repositories. These recommendations can be implemented in African countries to improve genetic data collection, storage, and usage policies.

Enable, Empower, Succeed: Harnessing Open Science for Antimicrobial Resistance Containment

“…Studies conducted in similar resource-constrained settings consistently identified the shortage of bioinformatics expertise as a significant barrier to genomic surveillance efforts (10)(11)(12). The case of our CBE workshop in addressing this challenge resonates with efforts of various organizations and initiatives, such as H3ABioNet, Eastern Africa Network of Bioinformatics Training (EANBitT; http://cbid.icipe.org/apps/eanbit/), Collaborative African Genomics Network [CAfGEN (9) and SeqAfrica, recognizing the imperative need to strengthen bioinformatics skills in Africa (13,14).…”

Challenges of Diagnosing Mendelian Susceptibility to Mycobacterial Diseases in South Africa

“…Even with the rise in the use of human genome sequencing to identify millions of previously unknown genetic variants, it remains unable to fully elucidate pathogenic variants in African populations. This might be due to the under-representation of African populations in sequencing efforts, even though reports stipulate that Africans have the most diverse population genetics [71,72]. While almost a seventh of the world population is comprised of Africans, genomic research has been biased towards Eurasian populations with very few studies conducted on individuals of African ancestries [28,71,73].…”

Pharmacogenomic Diversity in Psychiatry: Challenges and Opportunities in Africa

“…The large majority of these studies; however, are conducted in developed countries mainly using samples of European ancestry, posing a challenge to the potential transferability of existing pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing platforms to other settings, such as in Africa [29][30][31][32].…”

“…This means that African populations may not fully benefit from existing PGxs due to their underrepresentation in pharmacogenomic studies from which these tests were developed. (27, 28). To gain a more profound perspectives into the scope of psychiatric pharmacogenomics in African populations, we conducted a thorough and systematic review and assessed potential prospects and obstacles that could advance psychiatric PGx within the African populace.…”

“…The large majority of these studies, however, are conducted in developed countries mainly using samples of European ancestry, posing a challenge to the potential application of pharmacogenomic testing (PGx) in other settings, such as in Africa [29][30][31][32]. To gain a more profound perspective into the scope of psychiatric pharmacogenomics in African populations, we conducted a systematic review and assessed potential prospects and challenges that could advance psychiatric PGx within the African populace.…”