Genomic technologies are driving some of the most ground-breaking research happening today. Yet the benefits of these tools will not be fully realized unless they are deployed worldwide (spirit of global solidarity). Attention to equity in deploying these technologies is essential for achieving the immense potential benefits to human health.

Genomics-based surveillance is becoming an integral strategy towards control and elimination of diseases such as COVID-19, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and food-borne pathogens, among others. Despite the potential benefits and the greater need to control the high burden of infectious diseases, genomic surveillance capacity remains low for many public health programs in Africa. It is not justifiable ethically or scientifically for less-resourced countries to gain access to such technologies long after rich countries do.

​​Objective: To discuss the adoption or expanded use of genomics for infectious diseases in Africa following 3 themes:

1. Program perspective about the added value of genomic technologies​

2. Researchers perspective: What are the gaps in knowledge for the use of genomic data against infectious diseases in Mozambique and beyond?

3. Implementation (local planning, financing, expanded training of essential personnel, and the low-cost provision of instruments, materials, and computational infrastructure), Ethical, legal, and social issues (ethical, legal, equitable use and responsible sharing of information obtained with genomic methods)