Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II wants the government to invest in health research for effective infectious disease surveillance.

He believes development of the country’s human resource will be the first step towards the realization of the move.

“It is time for the country to invest in clinical research which will go a long way to adequately prepare the country ahead of any pandemic.

“So, I call on the government and other relevant stakeholders to help provide the investment that will help in developing the needed human resources to help advance health research in the country,” he said.

He was speaking as part of activities to mark the 25^th anniversary of the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR).

The theme for the anniversary is, “25 years of Research for Life: Sustaining Global health and Research in our Changing World.”

Otumfuo commended the staff for their hard work and various initiatives.

“The best way to change the low perception and research careers and to improve the availability of research positions to drive innovation and development in Ghana and Africa could be increased by analytical thinking among children, especially from the primary school level, in order to generate their interest in science,” he said.

25 years on, KCCR maintains a positive outlook for the future and seeks to maintain its enviable role as a major National Research Centre and to provide data to improve the wellbeing of Ghanaians through collaborative efforts.

Otumfuo donated 1 million Ghana cedis to the center. The donation was aimed at strengthening the existing cooperation among KNUST, Asanteman and KCCR.

Dr. Francis Kasolo, the WHO representative to Ghana enforced the need for interdisciplinary research.

“We need to be dynamic in all the global health research works. Institutions need to venture into multiple research areas that are relevant to the lives of citizens.
  
“We also need to strengthen collaboration between research institutions and universities within and outside the country to improve findings for global health and research,” he said.

KNUST Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson challenged the KCCR to strive towards tackling the country’s health challenges.

“We should try to strive to make greater strides and maintain a positive outlook for the future in our collective efforts to find solutions to the myriad of problems of society,” she said.