As the sterling contributions of Redeemer’s University World Bank-funded African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) continue to resonate in the global health arena, the World Health Organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, has appointed Professor Christian Happi as a member of its Technical Advisory Group on SAV-Cov-2 Virus Evolution for one year.
Professor Happi, who is the ACEGID’s director and a lead expert in genomics; and global public health policy management, led other experts at his centre to sequence the first SARS-Cov-2 in Africa. His meritorious rise in the fight against the world’s deadliest diseases gained global relevance during the 2014 Ebola outbreak when he played a crucial role in detecting Nigeria’s first index case and assisted in its containment. Since then, he has become a key player in championing a safer world in the public health arena through his international research outputs, which help to provide data for international health agencies, institutions, governments, industries, and scientists in Africa and other parts of the world.
The Technical Advisory Group (TAG-VE) will regularly inform the international health body on global, regional, and national COVID-19 prevention and control strategies. Its advisory groups will utilize it on vaccination, immunization, and infectious hazards. They also expected to strengthen mechanisms to identify and prioritize potentially relevant mutations of SARS-COV-2, among others.
