Harnessing wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) in Africa: a historic turning point towards strengthening the pandemic control

Curbing infectious diseases has been a significant challenge worldwide, with existing conventional surveillance systems presenting gaps in providing timely and spatial information, which undermines prevention and control. This has propelled the use of Wastewater-Based surveillance (WBS), a valuable tool for infectious disease surveillance able to detect early infectious diseases among asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic, symptomatic, and post-symptomatic individuals. Despite the global attention and the contribution of WBS in monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic, its use in the African continent is still stunted, which may hamper the early detection, monitoring, prevention, and response to outbreaks. Africa can benefit from WBS, deemed to be quick, cost-effective, providing timely data to ensure early report of the presence of a high-consequence infectious pathogen and devise timely protective measures at a population-level perspective. In addition, considering its inclusivity in providing an overall burden of infectious agents representing the population even in areas with limited resources, wastewater surveillance is important in tackling health disparities. Therefore, it is crucial to overcome challenges related to implementing surveillance in Africa. This can be achieved by providing adequate investments for surveillance efforts, establishing modern infrastructure to enhance wastewater drainage, enhancing the healthcare workforce through training, improving healthcare infrastructure and equipment, and utilising digital health solutions. Collaborative efforts on both local and global scales are crucial for developing effective health policies, and a robust research capacity within the continent is crucial.