Re_Emerge: Research to accelerate progress on emergency preparedness and universal health coverage in four Ebola-affected countries

Equitable access to healthcare is a key element of emergency preparedness. However, in low-income countries, efforts to strengthen preparedness tend to be disconnected from actions to achieve universal health coverage. We aim to provide decision-makers with the evidence they need to pursue preparedness and equity goals in synergy. Focusing on four low-income countries with recent, and/or ongoing, experience of Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks, we will use the grant to: (i) establish arrangements for consortium governance; (ii) set up an advisory board of key stakeholders; (iv) define capacity needs of our partners; (v) conduct a synthesis of existing data to establish strategic priorities and key evidence needs; (iii) construct an initial theory of change, setting out pathways from evidence needs to real-world impact; (vi) draft and publish academic/policy outputs from the synthesis; and (viii) establish plans for a competitive funding application to the NIHR.