Abstract:
We believe there is an urgent need for
longitudinal cohorts based in sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA). This conclusion is drawn
from the fact that non-communicable
diseases (NCDs) cause a large and growing
disease burden (please see Box 1) [1–6].
In the past, public health in SSA has
focused on communicable diseases. The
advent of HIV/AIDS reinforced this
image of infections as SSA’s major health
burden. However, NCDs, including cardiovascular
diseases, mental illnesses, trauma,
cancer, and diabetes, are now major
sources of morbidity and mortality and are
projected to overtake infectious diseases by
2030 [7,8]. We argue that SSA lacks
adequate resources to respond to this
problem.
Prospective cohort studies can be used
to study multiple complex diseases and risk
factors simultaneously over an individual’s
lifetime. Such studies have proved crucial
in understanding the etiology, course, and
outcome of NCDs in other populations
and have informed the design of prevention
programs. In addition, cohort studies
provide an incomparable resource for the
training of public health researchers.
Because the payoff from cohort studies
continues—and often grows—over time,
they are a long-term investment in public
health.
In order to highlight the potential
impact of cohort studies in SSA, we
compared published literature on NCDs
from longitudinal studies in high-income
countries to publications from Africa.
Further, we estimated the costs of establishing
cohort studies in SSA and describe
the response needed to correct the disparities
in research investment between SSA
and the world’s more wealthy regions.
