Home-grown response to coronavirus

Research under way to fight the virus

The lack of accurate rapid tests for Covid-19 has asĀ­sisted in the spread of the virus from China to the rest of the world. The advent of the panĀ­demic in our communities is calling for a rapid response to curb the spread.

This rapid response can be achieved through multidisciĀ­plinary, inter-institutional and multi-sectoral endeavours, which demand effective colĀ­laboration. The University of Limpopo (UL) has joined global research efforts by presenting collaborative ground-breaking research aimed at assisting govĀ­ernments with their strategic reĀ­sponse to the Covid-19 outbreak.

A UL-led multidisciplinary, inter-institutional and mulĀ­ti-sectoral team has started reĀ­search projects on the impleĀ­mentation of low-cost blockĀ­chain and artificial intelligence (AI) coupled self-testing and tracking system and on essenĀ­tial diagnostics to guide adminĀ­istration on the Covid-19 drugs.

These two research projects are led by Professor Tivani Mashamba-Thompson, a LimĀ­popo-born, NRF-rated mediĀ­cal scientist (molecular bioloĀ­gy) who is based in the departĀ­ment of public health, UL. Her team comprises Dr Desmond Kuupiel, a point-of-care (POC) diagnostics supply chain manĀ­agement expert and intensive care nurse based at the UniverĀ­sity of KwaZulu-Natal; Dr BuyĀ­isile Chibi, a public health pharĀ­macy expert based at Caprisa; Ms Ellen D Crayton, an inforĀ­mation technology and blockĀ­chain expert based at Genesis Technology and Management Group in Maryland, WashingĀ­ton in the US.

New tech to curb virus

In a recent article, MashamĀ­ba-Thompson and Clayton reĀ­ported a growing concern about the failure to find and report Covid-19 cases, especially givĀ­en weak health systems, inadeĀ­quate surveillance, insufficient laboratory capacity and limited public health infrastructure in African countries. They called for improved access to accuĀ­rate diagnosis, monitoring and reporting of health outbreaks. The researchers also proposed the use of innovations such as blockchain and AI that can be coupled with POC diagnostics to enable self-testing of patients in isolation as a result of exposure to Covid-19.

Local solution

South Africa has observed how different communities reĀ­acted to the lockdown strategy, which has been shown as efĀ­fective in Europe and Asia. We welcomed international pharĀ­maceutical companiesā€™ efforts to develop drug products for prevention and radical cure of Covid-19. Some of these prodĀ­ucts have shown to be effective Ā in predominately Asian and EuĀ­ropean populations.

The differences in the genetic make-up of people of different races may result in a different response to drug products. This calls for local research efforts on new drugs and vaccines before their distribution to the wider population.

The UL-led research team is leading research focused on preĀ­venting drug, diversion, abuse and misuse. The projects will be aimed at drugs that have been recommended for radical cure of Covid-19 among Africans. Its research efforts will be aimed at essential POC diagnostics to help guide clinics when making decisions to administer different group drugs for the radical cure of Covid-19.

The UL teamā€™s research efĀ­forts call for African universiĀ­ties to create multidisciplinary research platforms for interdisĀ­ciplinary, preclinical research, disease-targeted research aimed at improving population health outcomes.

This type of research also calls for an end in research siĀ­los, which are keeping Africa behind in terms of health-care innovations. Most health innoĀ­vations that are in use in AfriĀ­ca are developed by researchers in advanced high-income counĀ­tries and deployed to us at a cost.


African researchers are well-positioned to develop efĀ­fective strategies to respond to local disease outbreaks. This will require a collaboration of expertise and to ensure local inĀ­novations are developed locally to reduce the costs.

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