EXPANDIA is the ICGEB African laboratory network project to test and transfer cost-effective technologies for diagnostic laboratories in limited resource settings.
Assays to detect infectious diseases, and genomic surveillance for informing Public Health services to allow for efficient prevention and manage interventions are just two of the concrete practices of the EXPANDIA initiative.
ICGEB is pleased to launch a series of videos that illustrate the work performed by the network of laboratories since 2021 when the COVID-19+ project began, and aimed at empowering laboratories in Sub-Saharan Africa in the diagnosis and surveillance of (re)emerging infectious diseases through:
- the transfer of cost-efficient diagnostic and surveillance technologies
- the training of scientists to increase the efficiency and autonomy of African laboratories
- the enhancement of in-country local manufacturing capabilities for diagnostic purposes
- the provision of guidelines and good practices to navigate regulatory landscapes for the introduction of novel technologies into public health systems in Africa
Learn more about technology transfer approaches, novel and tailored diagnostics, the network of experts working to create sustainable approaches to establish local manufacturing, and shared Research and Development (R&D) processes to build capacities across Africa.
Multiple activities concur to achieve the main objective: to strengthen the diagnostic and surveillance capacities of Public Health systems across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through eight short videos, EXPANDIA outlines the challenges and achievements of establishing diagnostics, real-time technology (the RT-LAMP assay) to detect infectious diseases, genomic surveillance techniques, developed during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic under the COVID-19 and COVID-19+ projects, as well as the development of protocols for in-house, low-cost manufacturing of reagents and the challenges in many African countries with limited access to reagents and testing material.
The first video of the series on Diagnostics is being launched across ICGEB platforms on Tuesday, 3 September. Two videos will be launched each week during the month of September.
ICGEB wishes to thank the EXPANDIA network members from LabGene and INOVAGEN – Angola; IRSS-NIRLS – Burkina Faso; CIRCB – Cameroon; Pasteur Institut Cote d’Ivoire – Ivory Coast; BETin – Ethiopia; KEMRI – Kenya; UMTH – Nigeria; IRESSEF – Senegal; NMRL – Zimbabwe together with the team from ICGEB.
