Sokoto varsity moves to bridge research, policy gap

The Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto is seeking to strengthen the translation of scientific research into public policies and community-based interventions as part of efforts to address Africa’s complex health and environmental challenges.

The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bashiru Garba, said this on Thursday at the opening of the CAMRET–OHI Joint International Conference organised by the Centre for Advanced Medical Research and Training and the One Health Institute in Sokoto.

The conference, currently holding at the New Auditorium of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, has as its theme, “Harnessing Research, Innovation and Partnership for One Health Solutions to Emerging Health and Environmental Challenges in Africa.”

At the gathering, Garba noted that Africa could not effectively confront infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, environmental degradation, food and water insecurity and biodiversity loss through isolated interventions.

He said the interconnected nature of the challenges required collaboration among researchers, health professionals, policymakers, communities and institutions across different sectors.

“Our responsibility is not only to generate knowledge, but also to translate research findings into policies, innovations and interventions capable of improving lives,” the vice-chancellor said.

Garba disclosed that UDUS had demonstrated its commitment to research-driven solutions through CAMRET’s work on vaccine candidates for Lassa fever and COVID-19, the establishment of a COVID-19 screening centre during the 2020 pandemic and postgraduate training in Cancer Biology.

He further disclosed that the university’s One Health Institute had introduced a Master of One Health programme, which he described as the first dedicated professional master’s programme of its kind in Africa.

According to him, the institute had graduated its first cohort and established the African Journal of One Health to support research and knowledge exchange.

The vice-chancellor urged participants to focus on developing solutions that could move from laboratories and academic institutions to communities where they were most needed.

A keynote speaker from Gazipur Agricultural University, Bangladesh, reinforced the need to combine scientific innovation with local knowledge.

The scholar cited Bangladesh’s experience of combining farmer-conserved rice varieties with modern breeding technologies to develop crops capable of surviving flooding and salinity.

The presentation also referenced digital disease surveillance initiatives in Malawi and Rwanda as examples of how technology could improve responses to public health threats.

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The speaker urged governments and researchers to involve communities in the design of interventions, noting that indigenous knowledge could complement modern scientific approaches.

Prof. Musa Kana, Professor of Perinatal and Paediatric Epidemiology at Kaduna State University, observed that inadequate funding and fragmented governance remained major obstacles to effective One Health implementation in Africa.

Kana also pointed to professional rivalry among medical doctors, veterinarians and environmental scientists as a barrier to the collaboration required under the One Health approach.

He called for dedicated and sustainable One Health budget lines at federal and state levels, as well as legislation to institutionalise responsibilities across relevant sectors.

“We need dedicated and sustainable One Health budget lines at the federal and state levels, as well as laws that will institutionalise One Health responsibilities,” Kana stressed.

He, thus, proposed shared digital platforms for monitoring zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance.

The Director of OHI, Prof. Bello Arkilla Magaji, and the Director of CAMRET, Dr Ibrahim Malami, said UDUS was expanding its One Health training programme.

They disclosed that the institute, established in June 2024, had graduated its first MSc cohort of 40 students, while another 46 students were in their second semester.

The students, they explained, were drawn from the medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture, biological sciences and public health.

The directors also announced plans to establish the Nigeria One Health Universities Network to extend the university’s model to other institutions across the country.

They said UDUS was also proposing a training-of-trainers programme for deans and directors of faculties involved in One Health-related disciplines.

Meanwhile, they identified sustainable funding, faculty retention and curriculum harmonisation as key challenges facing the programme.

The hybrid conference, which ends on Friday, attracted researchers, academics, health professionals and other stakeholders from Nigeria, Africa and beyond.