KHRC Partakes in the 2022 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research Annual Research Meeting

November 17, 2022 | News | Reading time: 5 min

KHRC participated in a 2-Day Annual Research Meeting (ARM) organized by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) of the University of Ghana on November 17 to 18, 2022. The Centre was represented by Drs. Sulemana Watara Abubakari, David Dosoo, Samuel Kofi Tchum and Mr. Tawfiq Yussif.

The theme of the research meeting was “Epidemics, Pandemics and Diseases of Public Health Importance: Bridging the Research-Policy Divide”.

The purpose of this year’s ARM was for researchers to present cutting-edge research and have intellectual exchanges on the health policy implications of research findings

At the meeting, Dr. Sulemana Watara Abubakari made a presentation on the study “Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among adults in sub-Saharan Africa”. The findings of the study showed that people who did not think the vaccine was safe or effective, or who were unsure about it, were more likely to be vaccine hesitant. Again, those who reported they did not have a trusted source of information about the vaccine and those who thought the vaccine would not be made available to them within the year were more likely to be vaccine hesitant.

The study further found women were more likely to be vaccine hesitant and believe COVID-19 falsehoods. The study recommends that Educational campaigns should be targeted at misinformation and tailored to suit each country where the study was conducted.

Dr. David Dosoo also presented on a study that determined the level of mutations among pregnant women attending first antenatal care clinic visit in the middle belt of Ghana. The findings showed that the levels of mutations that make the malaria parasite resistant to Sulphadoxine pyrimethamine (SP) was low, indicating that SP is still likely to be efficacious for sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) in the forest-savannah area in the middle belt of Ghana.

Mr. Tawfiq Yussif made a poster presentation on the study “Effect of environmental factors on mosquito larval abundance in some selected larval sites in the Kintampo area of Ghana”. The objective was to identify mosquito larval breeding sites for future larval surveys and possible intervention programs.

Additionally, Dr. Samuel Kofi Twum discussed the impact of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses among iron-fortified pre-school children in malaria endemic communities. He stressed that Iron fortification and micronutrient initiatives are cost-effective developmental strategies against malnutrition and health emergencies in preschool children.