Dr. Christian Happi

And by yet, if we're out there doing surveillance, we should be able to discover them before they get to us.

The reality is that we keep, as humans, encroaching into nature as well.

And because these are existing in nature, they have co-evolved with us over centuries.

They are out there, but we don't really know much about them.

But then we should have a system.

We should establish a system where we are sharing information, where we are working together, where when you share information, you are not discriminated against, you are not stigmatized against.

So we need to actually just keep working together and continue to do the surveillance because...

Nature on its own is a big laboratory, and we have to be very intentional about studying nature and understanding what is circulating in nature and try to see how we can learn from those experiments to actually prepare better for potential disease outbreaks in the future.

There are several studies and several simulations that have said that in the next 10 years, the world will experience another major pandemic.

with an increased number of that.

But then the question is, are we preparing for it?

Sure.

Yeah, absolutely.

I keep saying that God has blessed Africa not only with mineral resources.

God has blessed Africa with a very powerful biodiversity.

As part of the powerful biodiversity that Africa is endowed with,

are the pathogens.

And these pathogens, we shouldn't just take these pathogens as just challenges.

There are opportunities in disguise because they offer a unique opportunity for Africa to study them and then use the data from the studies of those pathogens to create the next generation diagnostics, next generation vaccines, and next generation drugs.

And this could be knowledge that Africa can share with the rest of the world.