The session has just started. Please feel free to join us with your questions.
After the session has ended, you can view the whole dialogue by clicking recent sessions, or the archive.
For feedback and suggestions, please e-mail us at sciencetech@islamonline.net
Yours,
Islamonline Health & Science section
Name
Zeinab
- Egypt
Profession
Question
What are problems that face scientific development in Africa?
Answer
There are many problems facing scientific development in Africa, including a lack of funding, a lack of infrastructure, and a lack (in many countries, although fortunately not all) of sufficient political support. What it comes down to is that not enough people feel that science is important for the future well-being of their societies. Without widespread support for science, it is unlikely to become a political priority.
Name
HaDeeL
- Palestine
Profession
Question
Science is a very branched field, so in your opinion which branch of it can put Africa faster than any other branch in a good place on the Science map?
Answer
There are some areas of science, such as high energy physics space science -- which require very large and expensive equipment. I do not see these as priorities for Africa. Also there are areas of science with little immediate application (again high energy physics comes to mind) that should be a priority. But Africa needs its own skills and capacity in almost all other areas in the life and physical science, especially where they are going to have practical applications (such as new vaccines or new communications technology). And this even includes mathematics (my own subject).
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
Some might see the image of the African citizen as being someone who is engulfed in economic, political, and social problems the like of which we see on the daily news, and so the rise of a scientific revolution on the continent under such conditions would be hard to achieve. Can African leaders put the continent on an expressway to scientific development within such a context or should they deal first with such other pressing problems?
Answer
I don't see this as requiring a choice between one and the other. Science and technology are essential components of any effort to meet the economic, political and social problems facing the continent. The challenge is to ensure that science is tied into the need to meet these challenges, and doesn't remain isolated in the 'ivory towers' of universities. But both sets of priorities (the social and the scientific/technical) need to be addressed simultaneously.
Name
H.
-
Profession
Question
The A.I.D.S. virus is more than 25 years old in terms of modern medical history.
It has killed 20 million people worldwide.
If you were to ask anyone where A.I.D.S. comes from, they would say Africa.
When the two discoverers disagreed then as they do now on the origins of the virus, it was not about where did the virus come from but who created the virus.
Regardless, many are still dying and the scientists best able to do the necessary work in the field make discoveries -- the kind of discoveries (A.I.D.S. cure) that make pharmaceutical corporations interested, African governments are careless, and indigenous scientists unable to do what is best, and you stay alive doing it. This is the untold story, so when there is a call for more African scientists, who is doing the calling, why and on behalf of whom? These are the questions we should always ask when propaganda posesses great influence.
Answer
AIDS is a highly complex disease which has so far resisted the efforts of scientists worldwide to fully understand it -- at least sufficiently to produce an effective vaccine. I'm not sure who the "two discoverers" you refer to are, but if they are Gallo and Montagnier, the dispute is over which of them first established that AIDS was caused by a virus, not who created it. And i don't quite understand which question you are raising. I think it is quite clear that tackling AIDS requires a wide range of knowledge and skills. Some of this will need to come from scientists. And if Africa is to tackle the disease on its own continent, then it seems to make sense that African scientists should be closely involved in the fight against the disease.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
Reading the reports coming out of the African summit last week it seems that African leaders are shying away from any real commitments to scientific development and cooperation on the fast track. Would you agree with such an assessment, and how far do you see African leaders are committing themselves to real work with regards to scientific research and progress on the continent?
Answer
I'm always a bit wary of "fast track" commitments. There is always a lot of preparation to be done before a major new scientific programme can be launched. The important thing to me was that the African leaders endorsed the need to move in this direction, and to make a future commitment to do so themselves. Given that donor agencies are waiting to fund such work, everything now depends on African governments coming up with detailed plans indicating how they would spend the money effectively, and what the result would be. That is the next step. If it does not happen, then it would suggest that the African leaders don't really believe what they said at the summit.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
Do you see a scientific divide between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, or East and West Africa, or do all African countries seem to share the same hurdles in developing in-house science?
Answer
My impression is that most countries in Africa share the same hurdles, e.g. the lack of sufficient funding (for example to buy scientific journals and equipment), lack of infrastructure (for example, few well-equipped laboratories), and shortage of skilled people (made worse by the fact that those who obtain scientific qualifications usually find it more profitable to leave to work in Northern laboratories). Obviously there is a range, with some (such as Egypt, Ghana and South Africa) being better developed than the others. But each faces very similar problems.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
You run a specialized website that deals with matters of science in the developing world. How better or worse is Africa doing as a continent compared to other regions of the developing world? And how relevant do you see their experiences are to learn from each other? Do you see African leaders keeping an eye on what's happening elsewhere in their proposals and plans?
Answer
Sadly, Africa is doing worse than other continents. Indeed, for a variety of reasons -- one being a lack of willingness by the international banks to provide loans for investment in research during the 1980s and 1990s -- spending on research in Africa actually declined over that period, when it increased in every other region in the world, particularly East Asia. Many African leaders are now looking at the East Asian experience to see the extent to which it can be replicated in Africa. The motivation is the realisation that, in a world dominated by what is called the "knowledge economy", those with little knowledge to capitalise on are likely to get left behind.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
Your website had extensive coverage of the African summit last week. As an experienced science journalist who had covered other parts of the world in the past, how different do you find covering such events in the African context when compared to other continents or regions of the world?
Answer
Covering the AU summit was not easy (and I can only speak at second hand, since the hard work was done on the ground by our two journalists there).
what made it possible at all was that there were a number of officials, particularly from the African Union, who were very cooperative, and actively helped our two jouralists to get stories.
What made it difficult was the difficulty in getting access to the meetings, and the sense that a lot of the important discussions were going on behind locked doors.
But that wasn't very different from major meetings elsewhere. The major hurdle, in fact, turned out to the fact that accommodation in Addis Ababa -- given everything else that was going on at the summit -- was virtually impossible to find. I know of several people who were not able to attend for that reason. But that can't be blamed on the summit organisers.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
It seems that interest in the issue of global warming has picked up pace during the past few months like no other time in the past, with different governmental and none governmental bodies taking turns in laying down strategies to deal with the global phenomena. What part can African scientists play on such an issue, and how big a role can the continent play in averting global warming especially that the industrial nations seem largely to blame for this situation?
Answer
Everyone has a role to play in helping to avoid the worse dangers of global warming.
It is certainly true that the industrial nations are the worst culprits. For that reason, it is appropriate that they should be asked to pick up a large part of the bill for the technological developments that developing countries will require to adapt to higher global temperatures.
But all countries, both developed and developing, share a common interest in ensuring that the problem does not destroy the planet. To say that the developing countries do not need to take any action to prevent this from happening, on the grounds of global equity, seems to be sticking one's head in the sand.
African scientists can play their part firstly by fully understanding the impact that global warmining will have on their countries, and secondly by providing advice to their governments on how to meet the challenges and problems that it is likely to create most effectively.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
With brain drain taking place at such a high rate in Africa, how can African governments hope for a scientific revolution on the continent when the cream of their scientific community is living abroad?
Answer
A very important question. There are two quick answers (neither of which is entirely satisfactory). The first is that African governments should create favourable conditions within their own countries that will persuade those who have left that they can return, and still continue with their research. The second is by finding ways that African scientists who work abroad can still support the building of scientific communities in their own countries (for example, by returning for short periods of time to give training courses). Some suggest that trained scientists should be forbidden from leaving the country. But as far as I know, this has never worked, anywhere.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
Can you tell us something about the work you do at SciDev.net, and the challenges you face as a science journalist in covering Africa and the developing world?
Answer
The best way of answering this is to visit our website at www.scidev.net, and in particular the Sub-Saharan Africa 'gateway', which pulls together all the articles we publish that are specifically relevant to Africa.
We now have more than 150 science journalists writing for us from around the developing world. This allows us to post 3/4 original news stories a day, each of which must have both a scientific (or new technology) and a development angle.
We also cover specific topics in greater depth through our 'dossiers', and we are also keen that the website should be used as a platform that those in the developing world can use to express their views (in particular through our opinion articles).
The main challenge is persuading scientist to talk to journalists, and in the editorial work required to elimiante jargon and ensure that the technical issues we cover are fully comprehensible to non-experts. We don't always succeed! But that at least is our goal.
Name
Ibrahimovic
- Russian Federation
Profession
Question
I do believe science is vital for progress anywhere and on any level. I assume you believe in that too.
What boggles me is where can we start?
Thanks in advance.
Answer
I don't believe that there is any one starting place. It's a question of finding ways of using the skills one has in a way that seems most appropriate. And that depends on everyone's own individual circumstances.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
Given that computers and the internet are not too pervasive in a large part of African homes, do you feel that your message is reaching those who need to know and act on the information you present through your website? Are you thinking of expanding your network to other print or audio/visual channels to reach a different or wider audience?
Answer
I'm sure that our message is not reaching a large proportion of those that we would like to receive it. But we can't do that on our own. In addition to the technology issue, for example, an even larger one is the need to translate the message into local languages.
But we are a relatively small organisation. The best we can do is to support or catalyse the work of others who are working on the ground to the same ends as we are. Hopefully by working together, we can reach much larger audience, and more effectively, than working on our own.
And even if the reach of the Internet is currently limited, the one thing I can guarantee is that it is going up everywhere, not down!
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
You mentioned banks not willing to loan African countries to conduct scientific research. Would it seem that the powers that be in the developed and industrial world have a vested interest in preventing resource-rich Africa from making use of its raw materials through research findings, or would that sound more like conspiracy theory?
Answer
Well I'm a great believer in consipracy theories -- often they are right (and often it takes investigative journalists to find them out). In this case, though, i think it was much more complex. Many banks saw much of the money they were lending to developing countries going down the drain, or being misspent on vast prestige projects (including some university programmes) that weren't doing much to alleviate poverty.
Personally I don't think it has been in anyone's interest to keep Africa underdeveloped. After all a developed economy has a greater demand for the goods that an industrialised country supplies than a less developed one. But I do agree that the primary interest in the West in Africa has been, and remains, as a source of raw materials (as China is now waking up to).
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
Thank you for joining us Dr. Dickson. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavours through SciDev.net.
Answer
As a final point, if anyone wants to continue to dialogue on these issues, I will be running an experimental blog next week, reporting from a World Bank Meeting (on science, innovation and poverty), and the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
