The one-year projects will be conducted in 2018-2019. Scientists will collaborate with national disease programmes in 15 countries to examine how to more effectively deliver health interventions to prevent, diagnose and treat a range of diseases.

This is the first time the partners released a joint call for proposals with the grants reaching such a broad group of researchers with an equal number of women and men.

Dr Martin Ota, WHO AFRO grant coordinator: “These small grants will help young African scientists to acquire experience in managing research funds and generating data for publications, which are fundamental to being internationally competitive. The results will provide some evidence needed to address health system challenges in the countries.”

Dr Garry Aslanyan, TDR Manager of Partnerships and Governance: “This was a great opportunity for TDR to partner with EDCTP and bring implementation research to the forefront in Africa. I am particularly pleased to see the equal gender balance of successful applicants, which is a TDR objective.”

Dr Ole Olesen, EDCTP Director of International Cooperation for Europe: “This joint funding initiative was a natural fit for us. Testing out strategies to better identify and manage these illnesses, and involving the community to ensure that the right health technologies are delivered to the people who need them most is our mission.”

Grants
The funded projects were selected from among 383 proposals from 32 countries. A team of 42 reviewers with 14 representatives from each of the partners – WHO AFRO, TDR, and EDCTP – were involved in reviewing the proposals.

See the list of funded grants (PDF).

Background

• EDCTP earlier news item ‘EDCTP joins forces with WHO AFRO and TDR to fund implementation research’
• WHO-AFRO website
• TDR website