President Edgar Lungu has described the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) as a blessing and an opportunity for Zambia.
President Lungu noted that EDCTP will provide Zambia and Africa an opportunity for dialogue and exchange of great ideas among scientists, policy makers, funders, donors and global health advocates.
He said when he officially opened the eighth global forum for the (EDCTP) at new government complex in Lusaka yesterday.
The forum is being held under the theme, “Defeating Poverty-Related and Neglected Diseases in Africa”.
The President challenged the delegates to ensure that EDCTP becomes a spear-point for research and brings beneficial change in tackling poverty and diseases in Africa.
“As a nation, we are proud to be a preferred destination for health research because of our strategic geographic location, good infrastructure, stable political environment and a good track record in health care,” he said.
The Head of State further hoped that the forum will engage openly and candidly in dialogue that will result in a transformative health research agenda.
And EDCTP Executive Director Michael Makanga said EDCTP was committed to defeating poverty related infectious diseases worldwide.
Dr. Makanga explained that EDCTP has expanded scope that covers all phases of clinical trials evaluating diagnostics, drugs, microbicides and vaccines.
He said ECDTP takes pride in promoting the power of sharing science that include the generation of research evidence and promoting the translation of research findings into policy and practice.
EDCTP is a funding initiative established in 2003 by a co-decision of the European parliament in order to bring together health researchers in Europe and Africa.
For many of those experiments, the crew members are human guinea pigs…..
1 ST and highest case is “MEDICAL MARIJUANA”. Everything is ready as per Sinkamba. Zambia is too broke.
2ND ” SONDASHI FORMULA”.
First of all I think its beneath the president to comment on a clinical trial ,he should leave such issues to the PS in the ministry of health. These trials will provide some published evidence of diseases which is good but it will be funder driven-meaning it will investigate what the Europeans think is important NOT what Africans think is important. Africa will provide the sample.I hope such scenarios will change. For example the British government spent over a million pounds funding the Global Trachoma Mapping project. Surely there are more pressing issues than trachoma which has a prevalence of less than 3% globally. So Zambians don’t just celebrate when people flash money in your faces and get the head of state showering praises on them..Lets take initiative but more importantly…
Congratulations Zambia. EDCTP is one organisation that has an umpeccable reputation and its commitment to health improvement in Africa is second to none. The level of ethical standards followed by EDCTP are but a best practice.
LOL
Africans should take matters in their own hands. We are so naive that we believe everything foreign is a blessing. I believe only Africans know what their real problems are and hence only they can fix them. This has been going on forever in everything. Its fine to learn from others, but it is another issue to substitute our ability to solve our own problems. Buzzwords in Africa include words like: loans, aid, learning, poverty, corruption, disease. We can change ALL this. It is a mindset issue.
Had this rich continent been under the control of people who were LESS “African”, ours would have been the richest continent in the world… in monitary terms. With the resources blessed to us by God, we could have our poverty levels nearing zero. But alas, this is mama Africa. The continent of the generous-poor. Feeding our riches to the foreign-rich, while our hunger sees no end.
When moneys start flowing just ensure there are no dark corner meetings being held by the cleverer ones in the hierarchies.
Correct me if am wrong, doesn’t this leave the unsuspecting Zambians to be uninformed test subjects for various ‘so-called’ vaccines and drugs just to provide statistics for the Europeans on the effects of these drugs in a real world environment and who better to be test subjects than ‘poor Africans’ who just love chew on anything foreign which might not even passed approval for use and is still at the trial stage in Europe where they properly advertise and call for ‘willing participants’ to undergo tests during these clinical trials. Have we not just signed up the whole country to be Guinea Pigs?
Am shocked President Lungu can celebrate this when we have failed to conduct clinical trials on Sondashi formula