Grant Agreement for Award #20-45012
Background: The Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak first reported in Wuhan, China on 31stDecember 2019 has now spread to almost all continents. By March 3, 2020, already 66 countries have reported cases of COVID-19, three of them in Africa (Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria). The health systems in many African countries are ill-prepared to identify and respond quickly and appropriately to control COVID-19 and other similar infectious diseases outbreaks. The objective of this project is to strengthen the role of Member Institutions of the SACIDS Foundation for One Health to provide expert support to national Ministries of Health and public health laboratories in Southern, Central and East Africa.
Approach: This project is being implemented in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia through four work packages: (i) Targeted disease event surveillance especially at ports of entry and cross-border areas for severe acute respiratory illnesses that might be suggestive of COVID-19; (ii) Contact tracing of COVID-19 suspect cases; (iii) Rapid diagnostic capability for COVID-19 and its differentiation from other influenza-like illnesses and/or severe acute respiratory infections; (iv) Informed risk analysis and improved risk communication.
The Skoll Foundation linked grants to SACIDS, EAIDSNet and AfricaCDC were timely and enabled us to collaborate and coordinate actions within the framework of the “African Continental Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Pandemic”, which includes promoting evidence-based public health practice for surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, case management, and control of COVID-19. To meet the surveillance objectives, high priority is given to (a) ensuring high-quality screening at ports of entry, among contacts of cases, and other high-risk settings, (b) enhancing existing influenza-like illness (ILI), severe acute respiratory iinfection (SARI), and event-based surveillance systems, (c) supporting complete and prompt investigation of cases and tracing of contacts; (d) adapting health information systems for managing case and contact data; (e) monitoring and reporting numbers, characteristics, and outcomes of cases that are both clinically diagnosed and laboratory confirmed, (f) investigating rumors and supporting prompt communication to debunk false stories.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
To strengthen expert support to national Ministries of Health and public health laboratories in Southern, Central and East Africa through the SACIDS Foundation for One Health to set up:
- Targeted disease event surveillance, especially at ports of entry (e.g. airports) and cross-border areas for severe acute respiratory illnesses that might be suggestive of COVID-19
- Contact tracing of COVID-19 suspect cases
- Rapid diagnostic capability for COVID-19 and its differentiation from other influenza-like illnesses and/or severe acute respiratory infections
- Informed risk communication
PROJECT DURATION
This is 12-month project March 15, 2020-March 14, 2021 at a cost of USD 4m to Sokoine University, Tanzania (SACIDS = USD2m and East African Integrated Disease Surveillance Network= USD2m)
Project Title: Strengthening Surveillance, Disease Intelligence, and Health Information Exchange in the Africa Union Member States
Project Title: POLICY ANALYSIS OF THE DRIVERS OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE WITHIN TANZANIA’S FORMAL AND INFORMAL HEALTHCARE AND ANIMAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS
Project Title: SEROPREVALENCE OF VIRAL HAEMORRAGIC FEVERS IN TANZANIA: STRENGTHENING SCIENTIFIC CAPACITY FOR SURVEILLANCE AND RESPONSE
Project Title: The Fleming Fund Regional Grant
Project Title: DODRES (Disease Outbreak Detection and Response in East and Southern Africa) Project

Project Title: Enhancing community-based disease outbreak detection and response in East and Southern Africa
Sectors of Intervention: Mobile health, epidemiology, One Health
Number of Direct Beneficiaries: Community Health Reporters (28), Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response strategy (IDSR) focal persons in participating districts (10) and District Medical Officers and District Veterinary Officers (6).
Number of Indirect Beneficiaries: Community members in the participating districts (1,627,312 people).
Date of Submission: June 8, 2015
Project Title: One Medicine Africa-UK Research Capacity Development Partnership Programme for Infectious Diseases in Southern Africa
Funder: Wellcome Trust
Goal
To enhance the research capacity of southern African institutions for infectious diseases by targeted postgraduate programmes at MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral levels as well as professional continuing development (CPD) delivered through taught and distance learning plus apprenticeship research projects.
The focus of the science will be the detection, identification and monitoring of infectious diseases of humans and animals, in a one medicine framework. The programme will be delivered through a smart partnership between institutions in southern Africa and the medical and veterinary members of the London International Development Centre, specifically the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Royal Veterinary College.
Project Title: Establishing the SACIDS Network and Secretariat – Phase II
Funder: Google
Principle Investigator: Prof Mark M. Rweyemamu
Period:
Background
This proposal is being submitted against the backdrop that SACIDS is increasingly being readily accepted in the region as a pace setter in One Health issues.
Project Title: Ecohealth Approach to Assessing Infectious Disease Burden and Vulnerability in Southern and Eastern Africa
Funder: IDRC – International Development Research Centre
Principle Investigator: Prof Mark M. Rweyemamu
Period: Feb 2013 – Jan 2017