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The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have established the KNUST-IVI Collaborating Center to conduct research and development of vaccines for global health.
The center will be a research and training site to implement ongoing and new collaborative projects.
This includes disease surveillance, clinical vaccine development, vaccination campaigns, and vaccine efficacy.
Health economics studies for infectious diseases prevalent in the region such as typhoid and invasive non-typhoid salmonella are also included.
The center, the first of its kind, was initiated by the IVI. It will enable joint research, development and capacity building activities to achieve regional health goals as well as United Nations global goals.
Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and Deputy Managing Director of the IVI, Dr Florian Marks was optimistic that the partnership would be crucial in tackling many diseases.
“We are extremely pleased that IVI and KNUST have officially established a Collaborating Center to recognize our history of successful scientific cooperation and to pave the way for future impact on global health.
“We look forward to continuing our work towards a common vision for the elimination of typhoid and other vaccine-preventable diseases in Ghana and beyond,” he said.
Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo is Senior Researcher and Vice-Chancellor of KNUST.
“After the opening of the KNUST-IVI Collaborating Center, both parties will begin a mass vaccination campaign as members of the African Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine Introduction Program (THECA) consortium.
“It aims to assess the efficacy of a typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) through two clinical studies, including a cluster randomized trial in Ghana, to support the introduction of TCV into routine immunization programs in African country endemic to typhoid, ”he explained. .
KNUST Vice-Chancellor Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson highlighted the university’s contribution to the delivery of health care in Ghana.
She therefore asked the government to help her complete the teaching hospital.
“We are happy to have you with us today and remind you not to forget us in the sharing of resources related to health education.
“We ask for your support for our university hospital to be completed to support our teaching and service delivery efforts,” she pleaded.
Presidential Health Advisor Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare alluded to “the establishment of a bioequivalence center that will support future drug and vaccine trials”.
The vaccination campaign is expected to start in July 2021.
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