5613514 PAVING THE WAY FOR GENETIC MEDICINE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A REPORT ON THE FIRST GENETIC COUNSELLING PROGRAM IN THE REGION

Abstract

Genetic disorders, chiefly sickle cell disease (SCD), pose a significant public health and developmental challenge in the sub-Saharan African region and genetic counsellors have a unique role to play in addressing this critical challenge in the region. Paradoxically, as at 2021, there were no postgraduate training programmes in human genetics in West Africa. Thus, whereas there were thousands of registered Genetic Counsellors in North America, there were about 25 in Africa, all in South Africa. In January 2022, the West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC) of the University of Ghana (UG), West Africa, inaugurated the first genetic counselling program in the sub-region. The two-year full-time accredited program aims to provide cutting edge training in the science of genetics while fostering a strong foundation in counselling. Graduates from the 2-year program further undertake one-year internship to be licensed as genetic counsellors by the Ghana Psychology Council, which is the body responsible for ensuring ethical genetic counselling practice in Ghana. In Ghana, where about 14,000 babies are born with SCD every year and the incidence of other genetic disorders keep rising, it is the goal of current genetic and genomic initiatives in the region to better understand these conditions and help drive preventive and precision medicine. This requires the contributions of genetic counsellors. Therefore, the new MSc. Program in Genetic Counselling holds vast opportunities for the first cohort and all prospective students on the program, despite the anticipated challenges. These include limited genetic testing facilities as well as resources for integrating genetic counsellors into the clinical and public health systems of Ghana and other countries in the sub-region.