“There is the certainty of a breakout in the future and the world must be ready for it in a collaborative and equitable manner”.
That was the kernel of the submission made by the Author of Disease X: The 100 Days Mission to End Pandemics, Kate Kelland at Day 2 of the 16th UNILAG Annual Research Conference & Fair (An International Conference of the Humanities and Sciences).
Through a virtual presentation made from the United Kingdom, the Chief Scientific Writer at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Oslo, Norway, urged countries of the world not to be too eager to forget the pain and fear of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Now is not the time to move on from the pain and fear of the pandemic. If we move on too quickly, we will forget. If we forget, we will lose the conscientiousness and preparedness needed to combat the next outbreak”, she said.
The former global health correspondent at Reuters, who read from her newly published book, used real stories from her experience on the field to illustrate the imperative of unity among countries of the world in the development of capacities to deal with global health incidents, the like of COVID-19.
“By dint of hard work and resilience, we made progress in the fight against COVID-19. However, the progress made during the pandemic did not translate into equitable capacity development all over the world. That is why speed, diversification, and access must guide our collective efforts at building capacity.”
She disclosed the work that her organisation, CEPI, is doing with partners in Nigeria, Ghana, and Sierra Leone on Lassa Fever vaccine development, emphasising that more efforts should be made by all stakeholders to ensure that research and development capabilities are globally diversified, so that speedy access to health solutions could be granted to all, irrespective of income status.
Plenary Discussions and Paper Presentations
Day 2 of the 16th UNILAG Annual Research Conference & Fair also featured plenary presentations by the Academic Director for Education and Internationalisation at the University of Warwick, Prof. Jo. Angouri and the Managing Director (West Africa) of The Dow Chemical Company, Mr. Adebisi Adeoti.
With her topic, Migration for Development: Brain Drain, Brain Gain, Prof. Angouri de-emphasised the linearity of the subject of migration, and urged stakeholders to focus on the agency of individuals and their exercise of the power of choice to seek a better life.
Mr. Bisi Adeoti presented on Multidisciplinary Collaboration for Novel Research and Development. Using some of the initiatives of his company as case study, Mr. Adeoti advocated for stronger partnerships between the industry and academia, affirming that collaboration between the two sectors of the economy is the cornerstone of ground-breaking research and development.
Conference participants also presented their research works in different parallel sessions across the three categories of Sciences, Humanities, and Multidisciplinary.
Click HERE for more on the 16th UNILAG Annual Research Conference & Fair.
