SA enhances pandemic readiness

SOUTH Africa is reinforcing its leadership role in global pandemic preparedness through a major expansion of its genomic surveillance partnership with Germany and the European Union.

- TRACY-LYNN RUITERS

The next phase of the Genomic Surveillance Project was officially launched on 24 June at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI), Stellenbosch University’s premier epidemic response institute based at its Tygerberg campus.

The project is a collaboration between CERI and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fiir Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), under the broader SAVax Programme. SAVax is co-funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU), and is implemented in partnership with South Africa’s Department of Health and Department of Science, Technology and Innovation.