Associated organisationsBernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine · Institut Pasteur de Dakar · Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology · University of Edinburgh · University of OxfordEurope PMC affiliations are not treated as award recipients or mapped locations.
Funding£1.8M
PeriodAug 2020 — Aug 2022
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
The ALERRT network is training African healthcare workers to conduct clinical research on COVID-19 as the outbreak unfolds, rather than waiting for studies to be designed from afar. This matters because most pandemic training in low- and middle-income African countries focuses on infection control and critical care, not on research. Without local capacity to run clinical studies—such as the WHO's First Few X cases and contact investigation protocol—these countries cannot generate the evidence needed to treat patients effectively during an outbreak. The ALERRT network, already active in sub-Saharan Africa, proposes to fill that gap by working with WHO/AFRO and Africa CDC. If successful, this project would embed clinical research skills directly into the pandemic response. Instead of relying on protocols developed in Europe or China, African clinicians could collect data, test treatments, and refine care in real time. This would improve patient outcomes during COVID-19 and build a permanent research infrastructure for future emerging infectious diseases. The work is practical and immediate—it trains people to learn as they go, turning every outbreak into a chance to gather evidence that saves lives.
View original technical description
As part of the response to the emergence of COVID-19, the World Health Organization Africa Regional Office is organizing various Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and critical care training activities targeted at Low and Middle-Income countries (LMICs) in Africa. While the initiatives taken by WHO/AFRO are critical, training for research into the disease also needs to be targeted at the same LMICs, because being an Emerging Infectious Disease, we need to “learn-as-we-go”. Clinical research on COVID-19 will have to be closely integrated with the IPC, clinical care, and epidemiological training activities, including use of the WHO First Few X (FFX) Cases and contact investigation protocol for COVID-19. ALERRT proposes to work closely with the WHO/AFRO and Africa CDC and existing networks and structures across Africa and globally to provide the fore-mentioned clinical research training and support. ALERRT is a member of the Global Federation - ISARIC, which has developed a Clinical Characterization protocol for COVID-19. This protocol been endorsed by the WHO and is currently being used in China and across the UK and Europe.Being already established and conducting activities in sub-Sahara Africa, the ALERRT network has the capacity to effectively implement the proposed project.
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