The changing landscape for health research in Africa: The Focus of the Southern African Centre for Infectious Diseases and Surveillance .

In April 2013, the Southern African Centre for Infectious Diseases and Surveillance (SACIDS) (see http://www.sacids.org) joined forces with the Tanzania National Institute for Medical Research to convene the Second One Health Conference in Africa, held in Arusha, Tanzania, with the overarching theme of ‘The changing landscape for health research in Africa’. Whilst this reflection covered both communicable and con-communicable diseases, the greater emphasis was on infectious or communicable diseases. This reflects the impact of these diseases on human health, well-being and economic development in Africa (Mboera et al. 2014; Rweyemamu, Otim-Nape & Serwadda 2006; Rweyemamu et al. 2012). The heavy burden of infectious diseases of humans and animals in Africa falls into two categories, namely, (1) exposure to internally or externally generated emerging or re-emerging diseases and (2) the continuing occurrence of major epidemic diseases in an endemic state in Africa.