Deadline: 31 July 2020
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in collaboration with the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), is pleased to announce the 2020 – 2021 call for applications for the Joint PAHO/TDR Small Grant Scheme for operational research to support the elimination of communicable diseases in the Latin American and Caribbean Region.
TDR promotes and supports research in infectious disease of poverty that leads to health improvement. It also helps strengthen individual and institutional research capacity in developing countries. Translating research results into policy and practice, and engaging individuals and communities in using research evidence to reduce the disease burden in their respective countries, are key components.
Objective
Facilitate and strengthen elimination-oriented operational research in selected communicable diseases that are potential candidates for elimination through an integrated approach.
Priority Research Areas by Disease and Health Condition
- Trachoma
- What are the facilitators and barriers mediating the face-washing with soap and water throughout the day, among children 1 to 9 years old in indigenous communities of the Amazon basin of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru where trachoma is documented as a public health problem? 3 – 4 What is the most reliable metric for measuring them? What interventions should be implemented to increase facial cleanliness of children in this context?
- Rapid assessments for trachoma among rural communities in the Amazon basin of Ecuador and Bolivia to provide information on the need or not to subsequently implement population-based surveys.
- Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatis B virus and Chagas
- Assessment of the epidemiology and cascade of care and the coverage of interventions for prevention/treatment of HBV and Chagas for pregnant women, mothers and their children up to a definitive diagnosis and/or cure
- Design, pilot and evaluate an innovative model of care and service delivery in Mother-Child Health including antenatal care that address EMTCT of hepatitis B and Chagas, integrated with other diseases.
- Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis
- When delivering deworming drugs (as a public health intervention) for adolescent girls, women in reproductive age and pregnant women (eligible), what are the most effective strategies to achieve acceptance/compliance in populations living in endemic geographic areas?
- Are snails still intermediate hosts for schistosomiasis transmission in St. Lucia and what malacological surveillance methods best answer this question?
- Tuberculosis
- Pilot the introduction and scale up of treating latent TB with the short regimen of rifapentine plus isoniazid (3HP) and document the effectiveness and challenges of the interventions used
- Assess the increase in TB diagnosis using rapid tests in population under 15 years of age.
Funding Information
- Financial support: A total of five proposals for up to US$ 30 000 per grant will be funded. Co-funding from domestic or other sources is encouraged.
- Study duration: 12-18 months
Eligibility Criteria
- Application must be complete and be submitted before the deadline;
- Research proposed must be conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean;
- Principal investigator must be based in institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, including national tropical/communicable disease control program, ministries of health, academic institutions, research institutes, national research institutions; and non-governmental organizations;
- The research project proposed in the application must relate to the objective and scope described in the present call;
- Proposals submitted should include a signed acknowledgement letter of the manager of the program area or person in charge of the program that is related to the project at any level of the public health/healthcare services (Primary Health Care Units, Municipal Secretaries of Health, State Department of Health, or National Ministry or Secretary of Health for example). The acknowledgement letter does not mean there is need of clearance for the project, as no technical assessment is needed at this level.
For more information, visit https://www.who.int/tdr/grants/calls/or-suppot-elimination-communicable-diseases/en/