Role of genomics literacy in reducing the burden of common genetic diseases in Africa.

Gerald Mboowa,Ivan Sserwadda

doi:10.1002/mgg3.776

Abstract

BackgroundIn Africa, health practitioners and the current knowledge of the public on genetics and genomics is still very low and yet this has potential to reduce the burden of common genetic diseases. Many initiatives have promoted genomic research, infrastructure, and capacity building in Africa. What remains to be done is to improve genomics literacy among populations and communities while utilizing an array of strategies. Genomic literacy and awareness are key in the management of genetic diseases which includes diagnosis, prevention of complications and therapy. Africa is characterized by great cultural and language diversity thereby requiring a multidisciplinary approach to improving public and community genomics literacy and engagement. However, this is further complicated by having the fact that sub‐Saharan Africa is comprised of countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world.MethodsWe applied the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guidelines to review genomic literacy in Africa using PubMed database.ResultsWe found very limited evidence of genomics literacy for genetic diseases in Africa.ConclusionWe propose a number of approaches that if adopted will significantly increase the genomic literacy and reduce the burden of genetic diseases in Africa.

Highlights

It has been estimated that more than 7,000,000 babies are born each year with either a congenital abnormality or a genetic disease, and that up to 90% of the births occur in low‐ or middle‐income countries (Christianson, Howson, & Modell, 2005)
Scientists in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) have had a real opportunity to break through and join their colleagues on the world stage in pushing forward the frontiers of research in genomics (Bekele et al, 2014) much remains to be done in improving public genomics literacy
Most healthcare workers in current practice have not had genomics literacy during their training. This is true for even some countries in the developed world where most medical practitioners in primary health care have not had a single hour of instruction in genetics as part of their formal training (Calzone et al, 2010) within their colleges or universities

Summary

Introduction

It has been estimated that more than 7,000,000 babies are born each year with either a congenital abnormality or a genetic disease, and that up to 90% of the births occur in low‐ or middle‐income countries (Christianson, Howson, & Modell, 2005). Given the importance of Africa to studies of human origins and disease susceptibility (Gurdasani et al, 2015), there is exponential growth in the interest and implementation of genomics. Africa is characterized by great cultural and language diversity thereby requiring a multidisciplinary approach to improving public and community genomics literacy and engagement. This is further complicated by having the fact that sub‐ Saharan Africa is comprised of countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world.

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Results