UK funds Ebola research projects

17 Nov 14
The UK Department for International Development is set release £1.34m from a joint fund to support five projects expected to improve evidence and understanding of the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.

By Judith Ugwumadu | 17 November 2014

The UK Department for International Development is set release £1.34m from a joint fund to support five projects expected to improve evidence and understanding of the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said these ‘ground-breaking’ research projects have the potential to transform understanding of the disease.

The projects, managed by Enhancing Learning & Research for Humanitarian Assistance, include the development of EbolaCheck, a portable device to test bodily fluids, like saliva, providing a quick and safe diagnostic test suitable for use in the field.

Another project – the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform – led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Sussex – will develop advice and training for health workers in West Africa.

The other three projects will use data on human mobility, transport infrastructure and population density to predict the geographical spread of Ebola.

Research will also be done to examine the levels of knowledge and risks perception amongst health workers; and, another study will use statistical modelling to analyse how many deaths from Ebola might be expected over time.

The funding for the five projects has been made available from an existing £6.5m research initiative, Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC), which is jointly funded by DFID and the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said support for the Ebola outbreak has only focused on improving public health measures by increasing facilities and equipment, and fast tracking vaccine and drug trials.

He said without knowledge and understanding of local communities this life-saving work could often fail.

‘This funding will address that gap by training medical staff to engage effectively with local people about key issues, improving diagnostic tests and providing predictive mapping of the spread of the disease.’

 

 

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