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Bacteriophages (also known as phages) are viruses that can kill both antibiotic-resistant and antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, and they are found wherever bacteria are present. Since they are highly specific, they can be selected to target only certain bacteria while leaving other helpful bacteria as well as human and animal cells unharmed. Even though phages have such promising attributes, their use in Africa or Asia has received little attention. In addition, no phages products are available in Africa, and only a small number of academic and research groups in these areas of the world have conducted any phage research.

The use of phages to control and manage bacteria may be the solution to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) which is on the ascendancy. There are startling reports to show that by 2050 an estimated 10 million people will die from AMR related infections. Of this huge number, close to 90% will be from the developing world. As such, alternatives to the use of conventional antibiotics are particularly important and urgently needed especially in the developing world, with the added criteria that they must also be inexpensive, given resource limitations in low- and middle-income countries.

Phages are promising antimicrobials that are not only effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and inexpensive to develop, they are also relatively easy to isolate from contaminated environments. It is in this vain that Phages for Global Health, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to facilitate the application of phage technology in developing countries is collaborating with the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, KNUST to run the first Phage Workshop in West Africa. The overall goal of this workshop is to empower scientists selected from several countries in West Africa to develop phage products that will be both technically effective and socially accepted within their local cultural contexts. Workshop participants will be exposed to the isolation of phages from local environmental sources; characterising and testing phages on panels of bacteria; and importantly, establishing a network of West African scientists working on phages.

The workshop will be held at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology from Monday, 8th July to Friday, 19th July, 2019 at 9:00am. All are cordially invited.