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$2.8million COVID-19 Research Set Up For Africa
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$2.8million COVID-19 Research Set Up For Africa
(courtesy: Modern Ghana)
The priority research areas were identified by 844 researchers in the field of biomedical science, clinical, epidemiology, social science, policymakers, and infectious disease through a survey organised by the Africa Academy of Science (AAS) on COVID-19.
Madam Juliette Mutheu-Asego, the Head of Communications and Public Relations at AAS, speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview said the Academy would in the coming days issue a call to invite researchers to apply to the funds to conduct studies in the priority areas.
The key research areas, she stated included; understanding the effectiveness of movement control strategies to prevent secondary transmission in health care and community settings, develop new Personal Protective Equipment approaches using local materials and manufacturing processes.
She said the study flagged high the issues of researching into the conduct of rapid population cross-sectional surveys to establish the extent of virus transmission using a standardized sampling framework.
Madam Mutheu-Asego said the survey recommended a special focus should be given to potentially at-risk groups including; malnourished individuals and people with HIV, TB Sickle Cell.
She said it highlighted the development of protocols for the management of severe disease in the absence of intensive care facilities, determine optimal clinical practice strategies to improve the processes of care, and develop innovative approaches to use as alternatives to ventilation.
The survey conducted in April, she noted flagged the examining of optimal ways of communicating about potential interventions in high-density low socio-economic status urban settings and ensures that knowledge was produced according to local, national and regional needs.