Georgetown University Launches Two New Projects to Strengthen Laboratory and Public Health Systems in Africa and Asia
Georgetown University has launched two new projects to address global health challenges in Rwanda, Nigeria, Iraq, and Bangladesh. These projects focus on combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and improving laboratory preparedness for future public health emergencies.
Combating AMR is an increasing priority in global health. A 2024 study published in The Lancet revealed alarming trends from 1990 to 2021, where AMR claimed over one million lives worldwide. While deaths among children under five declined by 50%, fatalities among those aged 70 and older surged by more than 80%. The study also projects that AMR-related deaths will continue to rise, increasing by nearly 70% by 2050 compared to 2022, with older populations being disproportionately affected.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries quickly established diagnostic facilities to meet the urgent demand of testing. Some, for example, adapted existing infrastructure, such as veterinary labs, to manage the surge. However, as the pandemic subsided, questions arose about the sustainability of these facilities and their potential for repurposing.
To showcase work and promote collaboration on global health challenges like these, the Global Health Institute (GUGHI) has partnered with the Center for Global Health Science and Security (CGHSS), the School of Health’s Department of Health Management and Policy and Department of Global Health, and the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact (CGHPI) to sponsor the weekly Global Public Health Seminar series. In early January 2025, GUGHI Director Deus Bazira, Dr.PH., MPH, MBA, moderated a seminar featuring presentations on the two new projects by Ibrahim Bola Gobir, MBBS, M.Sc., M.A., a field director for West and Central Africa at the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact and chief executive officer at Georgetown Global Health Nigeria, and Sumegha Asthana, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Global Health Science and Security and adjunct faculty at the Department of Health Management and Policy.
Addressing AMR in Rwanda
Gobir discussed a Fleming Fund-supported project addressing AMR in Rwanda. Led by CGHPI in collaboration with organizations such as the Rwandan government and Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, the project seeks to strengthen health systems by developing a diagnostic stewardship program and improving the use of data at national and local levels.
This new university project follows a One Health approach, which recognizes the interconnected health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Gobir explained that the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in both human and animal populations pose a significant global health challenge. This issue is particularly acute in resource-limited settings, where antibiotics are often purchased over the counter, increasing the risk of misuse.
“Providers often manage patients with a fever by prescribing antibiotics, even in the absence of lab tests to support the diagnosis. This approach, which some of us refer to as a ‘double barrel model,’ involves giving antibiotics to individuals showing signs of infection without concrete evidence to back it up.”
Gobir further highlighted the emerging role of wildlife in AMR, citing growing evidence that animals, whether in captivity or in the wild, can carry resistant bacteria, viruses, or fungal infections transmissible to humans.
In Rwanda, Gobir’s team is raising awareness of AMR, establishing lab capacity and health surveillance systems, and strengthening government leadership on AMR. Field visits to nine surveillance sites, including two animal health and seven human health sites, were conducted by the in-country team to support these efforts. The long-term goal is to enable Rwanda and neighboring countries to develop and sustain surveillance systems that mitigate not only AMR but other public health threats as well.
Strengthening Laboratory Preparedness and Response in Iraq, Nigeria, and Bangladesh
Asthana presented on laboratory preparedness and response. Her collaboration with Claire Standley, Ph.D., M.Sc., an associate professor at CGHSS, is funded by The Elizabeth R. Griffin Program at Georgetown University and is in the early stages of examining how ad-hoc laboratory capacities created during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq, Nigeria, and Bangladesh can be sustained and integrated into health systems for future public health emergencies.
“The rapid establishment of diagnostic facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic showcased the resilience of health systems in crisis, but the real challenge now is determining how to transition these ad hoc solutions into sustainable resources that can serve communities in future emergencies.”
By engaging with local stakeholders, such as lab staff and ministry officials, Asthana intends to create a landscape analysis of the interim capacities created during the pandemic, examining their contributions to laboratory preparedness and response efforts. This analysis will explore the distribution of these capacities across the public and private sectors, the extent of private sector support, and the placement of the facilities within health systems.
She explained that the project will then assess the extent to which these capacities are useful contributions to preparedness and response for future emergencies. Countries like Nigeria and Bangladesh, which frequently experience epidemics, require regular, strengthened diagnostic infrastructure. Given that these capacities were created during an emergency, the project aims to determine whether they remain useful for sustained operations. If they do prove useful, Asthana indicated that the project will also explore the opportunities and barriers to maintaining these capacities.
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