The African coaLition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training, Clinical Characterization Protocol (ALERRT CCP)

A clinical research network already operating across sub-Saharan Africa is training local healthcare workers to study COVID-19 as the outbreak unfolds, rather than waiting for outside experts to arrive. The problem is straightforward: when a new infectious disease emerges, clinicians in low- and middle-income countries need to collect data on how it behaves—who gets sick, how severely, what treatments work—while simultaneously treating patients. The World Health Organization’s Africa office is already running infection control and critical care training, but research training has lagged behind. Without it, African countries risk relying on findings from Europe and China, which may not apply to local populations, healthcare systems, or climates. ALERRT, the African coaLition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training, already has the infrastructure and relationships in place. It will work with WHO/AFRO and Africa CDC to train staff in a standardised clinical characterisation protocol endorsed by WHO and already used in China, the UK, and Europe. If successful, this means African clinicians can generate their own evidence on COVID-19 in real time—feeding into global understanding while directly informing local treatment guidelines and outbreak response. The project does not create new science; it builds the human capacity to do it where it is most needed.