Nigeria, often derided as the big for nothing giant of Africa has made two major scientific breakthroughs since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Though both feats are firsts in Africa, they are important for two reasons: tracking the infectious disease and massively scaling the number of tests conducted on the continent which has been difficult because of the scarcity of test kits.
In three days, Nigerian epidemiologists and virologists from agencies within federal and Lagos state ministries of health and Redeemers University were the first to decode the genome of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, in Africa.
Last week, these public health scientists together with immunologists successfully completed the first phase of a process known as viral Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) extraction.
Armed with the genetic code of a virus scientists can track the speed of its spread in real time, detect changes (mutations) and more importantly its origin i.e. whether it is being transmitted locally or was imported.
Information about where a virus came from, where and how its spreading is, however, as useful as the capacity to test those likely infected with it.
Which is why the second breakthrough is important. One month ago, Chikwe Ihekweazu, the dauntless head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) tweeted an urgent appeal for RNA extraction kits. Last week, scientists at NCDC, Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, the National Biotechnology Development Agency and the National Veterinary Research, Ethiopia and from the University of Sheffield, UK inched close to producing test kits for Nigeria and Africa.
Reagents, an essential chemical for extracting, amplifying and detecting the coronavirus, have been in short supply since the pandemic; there is a high demand globally. Every country in the world wants it but there isn’t enough. Few companies in the world make the recommended reagent specified by the World Health Organisation, hence the supply shortage.
China, the largest supplier of reagents in the world, does not have enough to conduct the millions of tests it plans to curtail the contagion. Rather than rely on a single supplier, Japan, for example, directed its laboratories to look for other reagent makers. South Korea which initially had enough reagents to conduct large scale tests is struggling to meet local demand. Until a cure or vaccine is discovered, testing, testing, testing is the only way to keep the virus in check.
The NCDC is confident that the quantity and quality of RNA extracted is comparable with the imported versions. Finding a solution to the shortage reagents takes away a major distraction. With the massive production of test kits in Nigeria and Africa public health professionals can focus on rolling out more laboratories and scaling the number tests conducted daily.
With these two achievements science in Nigeria has made significant strides – the result of dogged work despite stubborn challenges. Challenges that may constrain local production of reagents. These include scare foreign exchange to import other inputs, say equipment or vials, necessary for making the chemicals and storing the virus; logistics bottlenecks at the ports; unstable electricity supply to power the factories as well as the lack of skilled manpower to oversee the process.
These usual suspects can’t be ignored nor can they be wished away. They are being mentioned not to discourage investors or give reasons why these scientific achievements won’t succeed. Investors in biotechnology and Nigerian drug companies will no doubt seize the opportunities these advances signal.
But it has taken the coronavirus pandemic for these potentials to come to light, we can’t wait for another outbreak to discover what else Nigerian scientists can do.
Fixing the stubborn challenges coupled with more investment in research and development could see Nigeria emerge as a hub for genomic research and drug making on the continent.
