The official guest at the event was the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Hon. Omary Mpinga who represented the Minister of Education, Science and Technology Hon. Professor Adolf Mkenda.

In his speech, among other things, he explained how important this project is for the development of the country and the people in general and that its results will be used by the government to solve the health challenges facing society.

For his part, Professor Gerald Misinzo who is the Oliver R. Tambo Africa Research Chair holder and the Coordinator of the SACIDS Foundation for One Health at SUA gave a keynote speech where he explained the goals and tasks to be carried out by the Research chair at SUA.

The Research Chair aims to develop innovative approaches through science and technology driven by genomics and analytical epidemiology in order to improve the risk management of viral epidemics in Africa, focusing on viral epidemics of livestock and humans including antimicrobial resistance.

He explained that among the strategies they have is to help Tanzania get rid of diseases that affect livestock and human health. This aligns well with the Tanzania National Development Vision 2025, African Union Agenda 2063, and Sustainable Development Goals of the UN whereby all of these aspire at achieving a high-quality livelihood and well-being of people. 

"Our main goals are to fight the three national enemies, which are ignorance, disease, and poverty, but mainly to fight infectious diseases to improve the health of people and livestock. We use modern technology to identify these diseases in order to be able to find a solution and eliminate them thus freeing people and animals from these diseases", said Prof. Misinzo.

Professor Misinzo explained in great detail how they will use the One Health concept, smartphones, and other modern tools to solve health problems facing people and animals in Tanzania through this project.

In the end, the project will contribute to enhancing national disease surveillance, reporting, transparency, and accountability to all users of health data, including those affected by epidemics at the community level. 

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About Oliver R Tambo Africa Research Chair

The Oliver R. Tambo Research Chair at SUA is among the 10 chairs in Africa and one of the two in Tanzania established with the purpose of honoring Oliver R. Tambo, the African freedom fighter who spoke up for science and technology.

The OR Tambo Africa Research Chairs Initiative announced Prof Gerald Misinzo and the Sokoine University of Agriculture in 2021 as one of the initiative’s first ten individual research chairholders and host institutions.

The 10 chairs, based in seven African countries, will share funding worth about the US $15 million in total to carry out research and train young scientists in priority areas chosen to reflect the continent’s development priorities. 

The chairs are funded through a partnership between South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), Adelaide Tambo Foundation, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and seven councils of the Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (SGCI), including the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH).