Funding of Covid-19 R&D; Priorities in Africa

Success against the Covid-19 pandemic requires a transdisciplinary approach incorporating social sciences and humanities, economic research and health systems research. It also requires access to funding. The African Academy of Sciences (AAS), through its hosted AESA Platform, acts as Secretariat for this Fund for Covid-19 R&D priorities in Africa. This Fund is seeking proposals against identified priorities; coordinating a network of researchers working on Covid-19 R&D to build a clinical research and trials platform for Africa; and taking a longer-term view to address pandemic preparedness in research actions. The Fund is open to multiple priority areas for research and development, including: - Epidemiological studies Studies to define disease severity and susceptibility of particularly groups at high risk of severe infection; the role of different age groups in transmission; the impact of control and mitigation measures; and to predict the most effective interventions. - Clinical management Studies to define the natural history of Covid-19 infection including the identification of prognostic factors for severe disease and the identification of vulnerable groups; and studies to improve the clinical outcome of Covid-19, including strategies to improve the processes of care. - Infection prevention and control Studies to assess the effectiveness, in both healthcare and community settings, of movement control strategies in preventing secondary transmission and of personal protective equipment in reducing the risk of transmission. - Candidate vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics Clinical trials of potential treatments and preventative strategies, facilitated by the recent AESA programme launched as the Clinical Trials Community online platform. - Ethical considerations for research Studies on culturally appropriate approaches to the ethical, social and legal issues prevalent in emergency situations, such as presented by Covid-19. - Social sciences in a pandemic response Engagement to bring community voices to decision-making processes, to understand non-intended consequences of pandemic-control decisions and to understand contextual vulnerability; and studies to mitigate impacts of the socio-economic and political externalities of Covid-19.