Makerere University Receives a US$ 386,000 Grant for Capacity Strengthening in Malaria Research from AMANET
Press Release
Kampala, 02 August 2007
The African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET) has donated US$ 386,000 grant to the Makerere University Medical School for two projects that will span three years. The two projects are capacity strengthening programme which aims at building a clinical trial site that can undertake malaria vaccine trials at the highest international standards, and a health research ethics (HRE) project that aims at strengthening activities of the Makerere ethics review committee.
The two-year malaria vaccine trial site project will be based at the Mulago Assessment Centre (located adjacent to the Medical School) with Mulago III parish and the nearby areas of Kawempe Division of Kampala District as the main catchments areas. The project at Mulago will prepare and consolidate a multidisciplinary team that will work to raise the site’s capability to host and conduct phase I – III of malaria vaccine trials. This project will also characterize study groups or cohorts and define basic epidemiological and malaria associated characteristics, refurbish and expand existing laboratory infrastructure, improve capacity in laboratory procedures and enhance general research preparedness. AMANET receives funding from the EuropeAid Co-operation Office (AIDCO) for its capacity strengthening and site development programmes.
Malaria kills over 300 Ugandans per day, mostly children below five years old and pregnant mothers. Worldwide, about one million children or more die from the disease in affected tropical countries annually. If developed, a malaria vaccine will significantly contribute in saving precious lives by complementing current malaria intervention measures which focus on drug treatment and mosquito control. These main control methods are beset by parasite resistance to affordable drugs and limited effectiveness of vector management programs. Over the past two decades, several potential vaccine candidates have been developed and evaluated against the various stages of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. AMANET is sponsoring three clinical trials of candidate malaria vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum in Mali (AMA1 vaccine), Burkina Faso (MSP3 vaccine) and Gabon (GMZ2 vaccine). Once developed, Makerere University through the Mulago trial site will be able to participate in this important undertaking.
The second project being funded by AMANET aims at strengthening the Makerere Faculty of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee (FOM-REC). The three-year project will enhance the research review process at the Faculty through improved communication between FOM-REC and researchers, improved protocol review , and establishment of mechanisms, within the Medical School, for monitoring research protocol implementation. This project is part of AMANET HRE project funded by the Gates Foundation. FOM-REC joins 20 other institutional ethics committees across Africa being strengthened by AMANET and constituting the “AMANET HRE network”. The AMANET HRE projects aim to ensure that as more products for research become available and more African participants are recruited into health research projects, the protection of their welfare and interests are adequately considered.
Established in 1924, Makerere University Medical School has a long-term commitment for training and developing capacity in malaria research. Over the past few years, Makerere successfully conducted and published results of several clinical malaria drug trials. This work was undertaken at a critical period of drug policy changes from chloroquine monotherapy to Chloroquine plus Fansidar (Pyrimethamine + Sulfadoxine: SP) and, more recently, to Co-artem (Artemether + Lumefantrine). This is work that has since influenced Uganda’s national antimalaria drug policy. Other recent studies at Makerere compared efficacy of rectal artesunate against intravenous quinine for treatment of children with cerebral malaria. Studies are also ongoing on malaria drug (co-artem) efficacy, interactions between malaria and HIV-I infection and malaria during pregnancy. The new AMANET project is an added recognition of Makerere’s leadership in malaria R&D in Uganda and across Africa.
AMANET continues to demonstrate leadership in malaria research and development in Africa. In addition to strengthening capacity and sponsoring vaccine trials, AMANET has trained about 1,000 African researchers in bioethics, good clinical practice (GCP), design and methodology of intervention trials, data management, molecular biology and immunology of malaria vaccine development, management and leadership of research institutions, accounting and procurement, health research ethics (HRE) and several more. AMANET recently launched a novel, free web-based course in HRE, designed to provide training for hundreds of investigators and Ethics Review Committee members.
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For further information contact:
Dr Charles L. Wanga
Communications Officer
African Malaria Network Trust [AMANET]
Third Floor, Commission for Science and Technology Building
Ali Hassan Mwinyi Rd
PO Box 33207
Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA.
clwanga@amanet-trust.org
www.amanet-trust.org
Tel: +255 22 2700018
Fax: +255 22 2700380
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