Abstract
Tackling emerging epidemics and infectious diseases burden in Africa requires increasing unrestricted open access and free use or reuse of regional and global policies reforms as well as timely communication capabilities and strategies. Promoting, scaling up data and information sharing between African researchers and international partners are of vital importance in accelerating open access at no cost. Free Open Access (FOA) health data and information acceptability, uptake tactics and sustainable mechanisms are urgently needed. These are critical in establishing real time and effective knowledge or evidence-based translation, proven and validated approaches, strategies and tools to strengthen and revamp health systems. As such, early and timely access to needed emerging public health information is meant to be instrumental and valuable for policy-makers, implementers, care providers, researchers, health-related institutions and stakeholders including populations when guiding health financing, and planning contextual programs.
Highlights
In recent times, the persistence and unprecedented emergence of rising epidemics and infectious diseases in Africa and worldwide triggered numerous public health declarations of international concern[1]
Can free open access (FOA) to these valuable resources improve evidence-based decision making policies, health planning and adequate funding allocation, innovative programs and strategic interventions performance and effectiveness to most vulnerable populations’ health and socio-economic benefits? Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases epidemics are rampant, ranging from Ebola, influenza, Lassa fever, HIV SARS and MERS-CoV, Zika to other zoonotic diseases existing as potential threats with sporadic epidemics in old and new regions[2,3]
There is a need for availability of data and information on humanvector-pathogen-ecosystem interfaces, drugs and vaccines development as well as diagnostics techniques and tools from preclinical to clinical levels
Summary
The persistence and unprecedented emergence of rising epidemics and infectious diseases in Africa and worldwide triggered numerous public health declarations of international concern[1]. There is need to develop appropriate mechanisms and strategies to promote open access capacity building and empowerment, enhanced health and disease literacy and education through sharing and exchanges, innovative policies and frameworks with advances in digital technologies, establishment of data and information quality control and assurance principle and guidelines, well-coordinated and coherent metadata and database management for evidence operational research and clinical decision making interventions[26,27]. Open access resources and public health benefits in sub-Saharan Africa The value of freely accessible and available scarce and/or other profuse data, database and information through FOA for public health systems offers tremendous opportunities to strengthen and fasten emerging threat and epidemics including persistent infectious diseases of poverty modeling in preparedness, prevention and control. Grant information The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work
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