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G8 science academies say science is only way to tackle Africa's problems

Ahead of the July G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, the science academies of the G8 nations have joined forces in calling for developed countries to help build up science capacity in Africa. According to a joint statement from the academies of the UK, the US, Japan, Russia...

Ahead of the July G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, the science academies of the G8 nations have joined forces in calling for developed countries to help build up science capacity in Africa. According to a joint statement from the academies of the UK, the US, Japan, Russia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and a network of African science academies, world leaders should specifically integrate the development of science, technology and innovation capacity into international assistance programmes. Without this, attempts to deal with some of Africa's most pressing problems will fail, reads the statement, which also calls for these initiatives to be African-led and sensitive to social and cultural diversity. 'Isolated investment in science and technology is not enough - capacity development initiatives should be integrated into programmes in specific sectors. A health programme, for example, should also seek to develop local expertise and resources to enable locals to continue to address the issues long after the specific programme has ended,' warns the statement. This means that a vaccination programme should be aimed at enabling Africans to research and manufacture their own drugs in the long term rather than simply providing them with drugs from developed countries for a limited period of time. 'An increase in aid for Africa must have the long-term goal of helping Africans to help themselves. One of the most effective ways of helping African nations to help themselves is through building their capacity in science, engineering and technology. Many of the serious challenges that Africa faces today, such as ensuring plentiful supplies of food and clean water and overcoming the spread of infectious diseases like malaria and AIDS, require solutions that fundamentally depend on science. African nations can only tackle the serious problems they face now and in the future with new generations of skilled African scientists and engineers equipped with the tools of modern science,' said Lord May of Oxford, President of the UK's Royal Society. The academies also call on the G8 leaders to provide long-term assistance for the revitalisation of African universities, support for centres of excellence, and science and engineering education from school to university and beyond. The statement then goes on to comment on the US administration's climate change policy. 'The US Government also needs to consider how its climate change policies are impacting on Africa. Many of the people who are being hit first and hardest by the rise in global greenhouse gas emissions are the poor and vulnerable in Africa. The Bush administration could immediately improve the long-term prospects for many in Africa by curbing US emissions of greenhouse gases.' In a separate development, G8 Research has approved two projects presented by the Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research, Letizia Moratti, namely the creation of a research centre to fight infectious diseases in Africa and the constitution of a network of research centres for so-called 'Green Chemistry'. The informal summit of the eight ministers is held twice a year to enable the most industrialised countries to discuss research and technological innovation issues. The first project was presented in the context of initiatives in favour of Africa and the G8 strategy to support sustainable development in the continent. It involves the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) of Trieste, an international organisation working in the field of genetic engineering and biotechnology research, which is especially concerned with the specific needs of developing countries. Ms Moratti's proposal is to establish a third centre - modelled on the second ICGEB centre in New Delhi, India - in Cape Town, South Africa. The new centre would focus its scientific research activities on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, fevers, as well as the formation of specialised researchers in this sector. The second proposal deals with the creation of a network involving governments, universities, research centres and businesses around the world to develop multidisciplinary projects in favour of 'sustainable chemistry' or 'green chemistry', through the creation of a hub of research centres. The aim is to create a platform to increase security and the eco-compatibility of chemistry, to facilitate scientific exchange and the growth of a new generation of researchers, especially in developing countries, and at the same time to revitalise the sector.

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Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom

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