A renewed £4 million investment by global health funder Wellcome is set to accelerate the growth of the African Population Cohorts Consortium (APCC)—a groundbreaking initiative uniting over 40 long-term health research studies across 16 African countries.
Launched in May 2024 during a landmark convening in Cape Town, the APCC represents a bold shift in health science: empowering African institutions to lead, own, and apply health data to shape locally relevant policies and research.
The fresh funding from Wellcome marks a major endorsement of Africa’s rising leadership in population health science. It will support the establishment of a permanent APCC Secretariat, hosted by the Science for Africa Foundation (SFA Foundation), and fund critical infrastructure, governance systems, and the consortium’s first Annual General Assembly.
“Wellcome’s renewed investment helps move APCC from concept to institution,” said Dr. Evelyn Gitau, Chief Scientific Officer at the SFA Foundation. “It solidifies our ability to coordinate a powerful network of African-led studies that can influence health outcomes across the continent.”
Population cohorts—long-term studies tracking individuals over time—have traditionally been fragmented and underfunded in Africa, despite their immense value in understanding health trends. The APCC aims to change this by aligning methodologies, ethical standards, and shared research priorities across member studies.
The Consortium’s three-pronged research agenda focuses on:
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Health across the lifespan
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Climate and health
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Universal Health Coverage (UHC)
“This is a major step toward equity in global health science,” said Victoria Pelly, Senior Research Manager at Wellcome. “We’re backing African researchers to generate the kind of high-quality data that’s been missing from the global conversation.”
Led by an Interim Steering Committee, co-chaired by Dr. Kobus Herbst and Dr. Dorcas Kamuya, the APCC will also prioritise capacity building and ethical data governance, reinforcing its vision of long-term sustainability and African leadership in global health.
Article by Jed Mwangi
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