African Vaccinology Network (AfVANET) : an African network by African scientists

Abstract

We write to introduce the African Vaccinology Network (AfVANET) as a new network of African research scientists involved in vaccine research and development (R&D) for human and animal diseases. The goal of this network is to promote and build capacity for early phase vaccine R&D in Africa in order to stimulate the development of innovative solutions to combat diseases that affect the continent. This will be achieved by bringing together different stakeholders in vaccinology and related sciences in Africa to identify and prioritise gaps in vaccine development for both human and animal diseases and to promote sound ethics, biosafety, biosecurity and animal welfare practices, facilitate the mobility of students and early career researcher between research institutions and universities in Africa through south-south collaborations and address the gender imbalance in the scientific workforce. The African continent has for decades suffered the social and economic consequences of several infectious diseases. Examples include the recent spate of infectious disease outbreaks as seen with the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [1], Lassa fever in Nigeria and Liberia [2,3], cholera in some parts of Nigeria [4], yellow fever in Angola, the DRC, South Sudan and Nigeria [5-7] and measles and Rift Valley fever in some African countries [8,9]. In addition, there are continual loses in livestock productivity due to, e.g. African trypanosomiasis, ticks and tick-borne diseases and lack of access to global markets due to the presence of trans-boundary diseases such as contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, foot-andmouth disease and African swine fever. Hence, there is an urgent need for a sound framework for R&D towards developing novel and effective vaccines for human and animal diseases.