H3 Africa Conference

Prof Kevin Marsh recently attended the Human Heredity and Health in Africa  (H3 Africa) Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The conference was aimed at formally introducing the H3 Africa project to the African scientific community.

The H3 Africa project is a new initiative that aims to facilitate a contemporary research approach to the study of genomics and environmental determinants of common diseases with the goal of improving the health of African populations. The two day conference was held between 4-5 March, 2011 and assembled H3 Africa stakeholders to engage the African scientific community and present the recommendations of a white paper for the pilot phase of the H3 Africa Initiative.

The H3 Africa concept arose from the realisation that most African countries were being left out of the genomic revolution that sought to apply genomic science and associated technologies to further the understanding of health and disease in different populations.

Research in genomic science has the potential to identify individuals and populations who are at risk of developing a specific disease due to genetic and/or environmental factors. Possible outcome of such research could include early and more accurate diagnosis, the development of new drugs and potentially, personalised medicine; which is the systematic use of information about each individual patient to select or optimize the patient's preventative and therapeutic care.

Previous genetic research suggested that populations in Africa have greater genetic diversity than populations in Europe and Asia and this genetic variation has been shown to affect how the body responds to environmental exposures and influence the risk of an illness. H3 Africa therefore aims to support population-based genetic studies in Africa of common, non-communicable disorders such as heart disease and cancer, as well as communicable diseases such as malaria. The studies, to be conducted by African researchers, will utilize genetic, clinical and epidemiological screening tools that identify hereditary and non-hereditary components that contribute to the risk of illnesses. As part of this, H3 Africa will create new research capabilities in Africa by enhancing infrastructure and supporting pan-African collaborations, as well as collaborations with researchers in the United States and Europe when appropriate.

H3 Africa is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome Trust. While announcing their support for the H3 Africa initiative, Director of the National Institute of Health, Dr Francis S. Collins, noted that while most global health research had been understandably focused on difficult infectious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, new studies were showing that the developing world increasingly suffers the same common chronic diseases as the West.

''We must take advantage of new research approaches, such as population studies employing genetic and environmental analyses, to understand both communicable and non-communicable disorders in these important parts of the world. What we learn in Africa about genetic variation and diseases will have impacts across the globe.'' Dr Collins said.

Speaking at the same meeting, Director of the Wellcome Trust, Sir Mark Wallport expressed hope that H3 Africa will initiate major studies in both communicable and non-communicable diseases:

''Though we don't often think of it, genes have important influences on the way an individual responds to an infection; either affecting how severely a person becomes ill or sometimes changing the way medications work to fight the infection. And we've known for years that common diseases like diabetes and hypertension run in families, clearly showing a generic component.''