TY - JOUR
T1 - Parkinson's Disease Research on the African Continent
T2 - Obstacles and Opportunities
AU - Dekker, Marieke C.J.
AU - Coulibaly, Toumany
AU - Bardien, Soraya
AU - Ross, Owen A.
AU - Carr, Jonathan
AU - Komolafe, Morenikeji
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Dekker, Coulibaly, Bardien, Ross, Carr and Komolafe.
PY - 2020/6/19
Y1 - 2020/6/19
N2 - The burden of Parkinson's disease (PD) is becoming increasingly important in the context of an aging African population. Although PD has been extensively investigated with respect to its environmental and genetic etiology in various populations across the globe, studies on the African continent remain limited. In this Perspective article, we review some of the obstacles that are limiting research and creating barriers for future studies. We summarize what research is being done in four sub-Saharan countries and what the key elements are that are needed to take research to the next level. We note that there is large variation in neurological and genetic research capacity across the continent, and many opportunities for unexplored areas in African PD research. Only a handful of countries possess appropriate infrastructure and personnel, whereas the majority have yet to develop such capacity. Resource-constrained environments strongly determines the possibilities of performing research locally, and unidirectional export of biological samples and genetic data remains a concern. Local-regional partnerships, in collaboration with global PD consortia, should form an ethically appropriate solution, which will lead to a reduction in inequality and promote capacity building on the African continent.
AB - The burden of Parkinson's disease (PD) is becoming increasingly important in the context of an aging African population. Although PD has been extensively investigated with respect to its environmental and genetic etiology in various populations across the globe, studies on the African continent remain limited. In this Perspective article, we review some of the obstacles that are limiting research and creating barriers for future studies. We summarize what research is being done in four sub-Saharan countries and what the key elements are that are needed to take research to the next level. We note that there is large variation in neurological and genetic research capacity across the continent, and many opportunities for unexplored areas in African PD research. Only a handful of countries possess appropriate infrastructure and personnel, whereas the majority have yet to develop such capacity. Resource-constrained environments strongly determines the possibilities of performing research locally, and unidirectional export of biological samples and genetic data remains a concern. Local-regional partnerships, in collaboration with global PD consortia, should form an ethically appropriate solution, which will lead to a reduction in inequality and promote capacity building on the African continent.
KW - Africa
KW - Parkinson's disease
KW - awareness
KW - epidemiology
KW - genetics
KW - public health
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U2 - 10.3389/fneur.2020.00512
DO - 10.3389/fneur.2020.00512
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087503606
SN - 1664-2295
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in Neurology
JF - Frontiers in Neurology
M1 - 512
ER -