RJW Foundation Medical Research

Africa represents the youngest and fastest growing population in the world. This makes intellectual investment an imperative, to harness talent that is a significant and growing share of the global population.

By investing in African science to address African disease, we invest in the parallel prevention and treatment of the same diseases everywhere in the world.

• Research is a vital driver of economies. Without major investments in research, African economies will be at a perpetual competitive economic disadvantage.
• Infrastructural problems such as lack of proper laboratories and equipment for research, and poor communication facilities are major factors hampering medical research in Africa, and are largely related to lack of available funds.
• Africans represent the oldest and most diverse genome in the world. Studies of African disease and public health are critical not just to improve the mortality and morbidity of Africans themselves but also to shed light on disease that impacts Peoples of African origin who reside everywhere in the world.
• While Africa carries about 20% of the global burden of disease, it’s scientific output represents less than 1% of the world’s share (according to one source).
• Africa must produce a critical mass of individuals whose primary interest is the wellbeing of Africa and Africans themselves. There has been history of exploitation of the natural and human resources of Africa by other countries.
• A relative lack of representation of African researchers as peer reviewers, resulting in a disadvantage of exposure to new findings in their fields, less visibility for collaborations, editorial board service and speaking opportunities, and barriers to development of the skills required to navigate the peer-review process. 
• Inequities within and among populations and between genders result in much potential talent being lost to science productivity in general -- home-based scientific productivity in particular.
• Continued exploitation by commercial enterprises that regard the African continent as a source of large populations for clinical trials to develop innovative preventions and treatments that will serve more prosperous populations elsewhere in the world, with weaker policy and human protections such as informed consent and intellectual property.

It is vital that funding of research in Africa be tied to the improvement of remuneration of scientists to be equivalent to those from the developed countries if they are expected to develop and compete for funding at the international level. This would release more valuable time for dedicated research work, better research outcomes and better prospects at the international level.