For decades, wastewater surveillance was the unsung cornerstone of global efforts to eradicate polio, but its more recent application over the COVID-19 pandemic has heralded a surge in uptake as countries look to strengthen their disease surveillance systems.
Testimony to the growing potential of wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES), especially in Africa, was evident at a recent meeting in Ghana. Here, researchers and practitioners met in Accra on 14 and 14 April 2026 for a Wastewater & Environmental Surveillance Meeting hosted by the Ghana Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation Africa Region (WHO AFRO), the Gates Foundation, Scripps Research, and others.
Enjoying a near front-row seat was Keaghan Brown, a doctoral researcher and the bioinformatics genomic coordinator within the PHA4GE Secretariat.
More than an observer, Brown was at the event to present a poster on the development of PHA4GE’s capacity and workforce development course in wastewater surveillance bioinformatics. He was also a presenter on the post-conference workshop on wastewater genomic surveillance.
Brown singled out the keynote address by Kate Medlicott, technical lead for sanitation at WHO, and a plenary discussion on the sustainable scaling of wastewater and environmental surveillance as among the many highlights of the conference. As were discussions with the many delegates who approached him in response to his poster and workshop presentations.
“It was genuinely an amazing experience overall,” Brown says of his time in Ghana. “And it was wonderful to hear and see experts sharing critical insights into the current state of wastewater surveillance, and to be part of discussions on how we as stakeholders and collaborators can work together to move the field forward.”
