S.r.l. Impresa Sociale, Italy
R-Evolution Worldwide is glad to announce the launch of a collaboration with the University of Salento, (the local University, in southern Italy) and with the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, in Mali, in the context of an innovative PhD on the topic of “Malaria and drug resistance: development of new therapeutic strategies”.
This PhD involves one of the scientific project coordinators of the company, Dr. Sara Greco, starting from 9th December 2024.
After receiving the ethical approval in Tanzania, NeuroSolve obtained the ethical clearance in Zambia too. The ethical clearance certificate will allow to conduct medical research on Neurocysticercosis also in Zambia.
NeuroSolve is a four-year project funded by the European Commission and EDCTP3, started on May 1, 2023. The African Institutions involved are: University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania), University of Zambia (Zambia); the European Institutions are: Universiteit Ghent (Belgium) and R-Evolution Worldwide Srl – Impresa Sociale (Italy), that is also the project Coordinator. NeuroSolve is committed to fight taeniasis/Neurocysticercosis (NCC) disease in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dengue and Zika viruses are arboviruses primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Dengue and Zika infectious disease frequently erupt in tropical and subtropical regions. Globalization coupled with climate change, significantly expedites their worldwide dissemination, often sparking new epidemics.
WHO reported the highest number of dengue cases (~6.5 million in 2023) in over 80 countries with 7300 dengue-related deaths. Burkina Faso and Mali have been reported to be among 8 countries with active cases in 2023, while Burkina Faso accounted for about 74% of total numbers of cases. Tanzania’s first confirmed Dengue outbreak occurred in 2010 in Dar es Salaam, since then, several outbreaks have occurred. Furthermore, first confirmed cases of Zika in Tanzania were reported in 2016 and in 2022. Incidence of dengue and Zika fever often spikes in rainy seasons mostly in urban settings.
Understanding how dengue and Zika viruses interact and affect individuals and populations is crucial for disease management and prevention, given their frequent co-circulation and potential for compounded clinical outcomes. The interplay between these viruses can complicate clinical picture, potentially leading to atypical or severe disease presentations.
Identifying and analyzing drivers of dengue and Zika virus spread in regions lacking sufficient epidemiological, immunological, and entomological data is critical for effective surveillance and control. Variations of these infections transmission in the three countries provides a unique opportunity to investigate genetic diversity of vectors and viruses, immunology and molecular interplay influences clinical outcome and co-circulation.
The spread of Mpox virus (MPXV) in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo (RoC) presents an urgent public health concern with global implications. MPXV cases have been reported across 114 countries with 89,752 confirmed reports and >150 deaths. It has the highest prevalence in DRC and has resulted in twice the number of deaths in the African region compared to Europe. RoC, a DRC bordering country, is also experiencing a surge in positive cases, highlighting an urgent need for data-driven efforts to identify transmission routes and implement public health initiatives. MPOX-PROBE is responding to this call for action with an international consortium and activities in three main pillars:
(1) improving epidemiological surveillance of Mpox with new diagnostics and sampling efforts including high-risk areas and vulnerable populations;
2) capacity building to improve diagnostic and research capacities of researchers and public health workers in DRC and RoC;
3) strengthening public health response by sharing surveillance data and newly developed spatiotemporal risk and transmission models for Mpox.
Through MPOX-PROBE, this consortium will create actionable data to uncover MPXV transmission routes and natural reservoirs facilitating development of effective interventional packages. The transmission and risks models will allow prediction of future or emerging outbreaks and develop initiatives to prevent further spread. Together, these efforts will benefit vulnerable populations and
general public in sub-Saharan Africa alike while also performing ground-breaking research to understand transmission mechanisms.
A consortium composed by University of Sciences, Technologies and Techniques of Bamako (USTTB, Mali), Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso, University of Bordeaux (France), and Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK, Italy) as Project Partners and managed by R-Evolution Worldwide as Project Coordinator has successfully submitted a proposal in the field of Digital Health for the HORIZON-JU-GH-EDCTP3-2024-01-06-two-stage Call.
The project name is “LINKAGE: InteroperabLe combination of existing dIgital solutions to improve the deliveriNg of Key healthcare services, nAtional control proGrams for vulnerablE populations of Mali and Burkina Faso”.
The project’s major ambition is the improvement of Antenatal Care services (ANC) in Mali and Burkina Faso through making interoperable with each other already existing open-source digital platforms: BOGOU, DHIS2 and TreC Mamma. It will greatly improve health outcomes by enhancing accessibility to ANC information at different levels and to different stakeholders such as health professionals, mothers, policy makers and researchers.
By integrating strengths and key functionalities from existing platforms and adopting a structured business intelligence approach, the project will support the scaling-up of new digital technologies in public health interventions, serving as drivers for the strengthening of health systems in SSA. By enabling the efficient exchange of information and promoting collaboration among stakeholders, the digital solution approach of the project can help streamline processes, improve healthcare delivery, and ultimately contribute to the overall improvement of healthcare systems in the region.
Indeed, the envisioned approach will be explored to benefit other potential countries and the scaling-up in other regions of SSA as well.
The increasing urbanization in Africa, paralleled by inadequate environmental sanitation, significantly contributes to the proliferation of Aedes mosquitoes, which transmit many arboviruses, including dengue virus (DENV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV).
In 2023, a total of 70 223 cases of dengue and 753 deaths have been reported from 15 African countries. Burkina Faso continues to be the country most impacted, accounting for 85% of reported cases and 91% of recorded fatalities. In 2023 Mali experienced simultaneous outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya infections.
The VectorEnd project promotes an integrated vector control approach to mitigate the burden of dengue and chikungunya, in urban areas of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Tanzania with high incidences of these diseases.
This initiative marks the first comprehensive trial in African urban settings to assess the combined effect of mass trapping, larval source management, and community engagement on controlling Aedes mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit.
The INTEGRATION consortium held its annual meeting of the third year of the project on 21st and 22nd March 2024 in Paris. The INTEGRATION project involves the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, USTTB (Mali), CNRST-Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique et Technologique/IRSS-Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (Burkina Faso), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IRD (France), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, LSTM (United Kindom) and R-Evolution Worldwide Srl – Impresa Sociale, R-evoWW (Italy).
Click here for more information: Annual Project Meeting Y3 – INTEGRATION (integration-iptp-smc.org)
The NeuroSolve consortium held its Project Kick-off Meeting on the 4th December 2023 in Lusaka (Zambia). NeuroSolve is a four-year project funded by EDCTP3, lead by an African-European research consortium involves the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM – Tanzania), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA – Tanzania), University of Zambia (UNZA – Zambia), Revolution Worldwide Srl – Impresa Sociale (R-EvoWW – Italy) and Universiteit Ghent (UGent – Belgium).
The third edition of CPHIA was hosted by the Zambian Ministry of Health and took place from 27th to 30th November 2023 at Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka, Zambia.
The topic of the conference “Breaking Barriers: Repositioning Africa in the Global Health Architecture” was explored across nine plenary sessions, several parallel and abstract sessions and dozens of official side events. CPHIA 2023 was one of the largest global public health events because involved 40 different nations with over 5000 delegates who attended the conference in person and over 20,000 virtually. Part of the R-evoWW team took part in the event.
R-evoWW took part to the Eleventh EDCTP Forum in the Palais des Congrès de Paris in Paris (France) from 7th to 10th November 2023.
This Forum marked EDCTP’s 20th Anniversary and the theme was “Partnering for Global Health Research Innovation and Impact in Africa – Celebrating EDCTP: two decades and beyond”.
