PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1590282
Defying barriers to fight tuberculosis in West Africa: A model of equitable partnerships within a research capacity strengthening network in the subregion
Provisionally accepted
Isaac Darko Otchere1*
Victory Fabian Edem2Toyin Togun2
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu1
Martin Antonio2WANETAM TB-Network2- 1Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- 2Medical Research Council The Gambia Unit (MRC), Banjul, Gambia
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Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), is the leading cause of death from a single infectious disease albeit treatable. Global TB control efforts face significant challenges, including insufficient funding, ineffective vaccines, inadequate diagnostics, and complex treatments, particularly in resource-limited regions. West Africa has a unique TB epidemiology characterised by medium- to high-prevalence rates and higher diversity of the MTBC which further compounds its control efforts. In response to the global call to end TB by 2030, the West African Network of Excellence for TB, AIDS, and Malaria (WANETAM) has united scientists from 25 institutions across 12 West African countries to build research capacity and conduct translational research focused on TB. The multi-country program of WANETAM is focussed on assisting the TB control programs of member countries through supply of essential laboratory equipment and facilitation of lab accreditation/certification (with three regional labs already ISO accredited and others on course), gender sensitive training and retention of critical laboratory and research expertise, improvement in diagnosis of TB including paediatric and drug-resistant TB as well as carrying out studies on TB to help understand the molecular epidemiology of the MTBC in our sub-region to help advice polity. WANETAM has to date trained 13 postdoctoral fellows, 753 laboratory technicians/technologists and currently has 7 female PhD students in the final year of their respective programs. By fostering collaboration among Francophone, Anglophone, and Lusophone West Africans, WANETAM is bridging cultural and language barriers to fight TB while preparing West Africa for future pandemics
Keywords: Tuberculosis, West Africa, WANETAM, Capacity Building, End TB
Received: 09 Mar 2025; Accepted: 28 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Otchere, Edem, Togun, Yeboah-Manu, Antonio and TB-Network. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Isaac Darko Otchere, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
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