Small projects South Africa - Africa Genome Initiative

• Research unit: SDC
• Project number: 7F-02102.13

Key words (German)

Ostafrika
Südafrika
Africa Genome Initiative
Gesellschaftliche Strukturen und Beziehungen
Ausland
Wissenschaft
Bildung
Politik

Short description (English)

The success of the Human Genome Project has given an enormous impetus to biological and medical research. The World Health Organisation (WHO) note that the information generated from this complex task will have a profound effect on the provision of health care in the future. It is equally clear that it will also raise new sets of ethical issues which have not been encountered before and which strike at the very heart of the basis of human nature.

The first Human Genome and Africa conference, held at Stellenbosch in March 2003, co-funded by SDC, successfully served to raise these issues as they pertain to Africa. The conference began a process of identifying the nature of research currently underway in Africa and through discussions and debates identified opportunities and obstacles to taking the research process further.

To turn the recommendations emerging from the conference into concrete action, a 3 year programm 2004-2006 was developed comprising an integrated set of 10 projects with an Annual Conference as the key event. The next conference will be held in Cairo in March 2004.

Project aims (English)

The objective of the African Genome Initiative is to pomote the establishment of South Africn and African networks among all those engaged in human genomic work in whatever capacity, whether scientific, technological, commercial or educational.