Health experts call for further research on influenza in Africa

Health experts meeting here Wednesday called for further research on influenza in Africa to find best way of dealing with the public health issue.

The experts made the call during the opening of the fifth African Network for Influenza Surveillance and Epidemiology (ANISE) meeting in Kigali, which involved over 150 golobal epidemiologists, academicians and experts.

Opening the meeting, Agnes Binagwaho, Rwanda's minister of health, said influenza is a public health issue and that bringing such people together helps in other fields in the health sector.

"I remember in the fight against Ebola, we used the lessons we had learnt from flu prevention," she said.

The three-day conference aims to encourage influenza research in Africa, bolster local access to vaccines, and share strategies and assessment tools for building efficient, standardized surveillance systems on the continent, according to organizers.

Experts are aimed to promote African gains and forge a sustainable path forward for the ANISE network.

Olushayo Oluseun Olu, the World Health Organization representative in Rwanda, said that influenza is a major regional and global issue that affects people especially pregnant women and children under five years.

However, little is known about it in the general public, he said.

Rwanda was hailed as one of the 30 countries with a good response to influenza and other epidemics with a national reference laboratory in Kigali which has acted as national influenza testing center since 2008.

The ANISE was founded in 2009 to generate and disseminate missing data and improve local preparedness for future influenza epidemics. Endit