COVID-19 research and science infrastructure in South Africa

Biomedical laboratory and field scientists, as well as social scientists, in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, responded to the challenges of COVID-19 with speed. African-wide experience with infectious disease, and the networks and infrastructure to conduct new research and implement field trials, were part of the global effort to contain the pandemic. But in order to contribute, scientists necessarily set aside ongoing research, including on some of the most persistent infections – HIV, TB, malaria. This situation highlights the precarity of science research programmes and the challenges of sustaining research capacity when agendas, funds and acknowledgements reinforce global inequalities.