The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) today announced an investment of $2 million to fund research into understanding the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Africa and develop relevant technologies and products to address the AMR challenge.
AMR essentially renders some drugs ineffective and has contributes to 700,000 deaths globally each year. Although resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics has been witnessed in Africa, the full scope of the burden is not yet understood as 40% of African countries do not have sufficient data on AMR.
“Antimicrobial resistance is likely to compound the high disease burden in Africa and therefore requires us to increase our understanding to be adaptive and responsive,” says AESA Director Prof Tom Kariuki.
The funding for projects is made available in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and through the Grand Challenges Africa and Grand Challenges South Africa programmes, which were created to catalyse scientific breakthroughs and find local solutions to solve Africa’s pressing challenges. The AAS and the SAMRC signed a collaboration agreement in 2016 and this is the second call for proposal issued by the partners under the Grand Challenges umbrella.
“We are excited to be working with Grand Challenges Africa again and hope that the partnership will catalyze and strengthen intra-continental research collaboration between South African researcher and their peers on the continent”, says Zoleka Ngcete, Programme Manager for Grand Challenges South Africa.
“Understanding the scale of antimicrobial resistance informs our strategic response to counter the impact of AMR in the provision of present and future healthcare on the continent,” says Professor Glenda Gray President and CEO, at the SAMRC.
Seed grants to the value of $100,000 and full grants to the value of $250,000 will be awarded to researchers who reside in Africa working in any discipline and from any organisation, including colleges, universities, government laboratories, research institutions and non-profit organisations and on projects that will research new approaches to characterise the global burden of antimicrobial resistance.
Funding will be given to projects that propose innovation in:
Data sources: Pilot tests of new sources of data, particularly those that would bring together different research communities for new perspectives on the problem.
Analytical methods: Pilot tests of bioinformatics approaches, including those that combine or connect existing databases in novel ways.
Biomarkers: Pilot tests of new biomarkers or combinations of biomarkers that could lead to new understanding of the actionable implications of antimicrobial resistance surveillance data.
Low-cost technologies and products: Exploratory work in developing new technologies and products, including 1) those that specifically target improved infection prevention and control in healthcare settings to reduce reliance on healthcare provider behaviour change, and 2) technologies to remove antibiotics from effluents.
“Antimicrobial resistant requires stewardship for the global good as bacteria do not know and do not respect geographical boundaries. Africa needs to be better prepared for the benefit of its people,” concluded Dr Moses Alobo, the Programme Manager for Grand Challenges Africa.
Grand Challenges India and Grand Challenges Brazil will be announcing their calls on antimicrobial resistance in due course.
