France provides 24.5 million euros for OR to improve projects fighting diseases

In the last decade, France has made a major financial commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria across francophone countries, many of which are in the developing world. French project website L’Initiative reports France is maintaining its high level political and financial commitment to multilateral funds, contributing around €700 million a year since 2013.

Between 2011 and 2017, €24.5 million of this funding went towards 22 projects and 35 'research missions' that utilised operational research. These projects and research missions aimed to achieve a number of improvements to the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the overall work.

L’Initiative says the funding for OR “made it possible to support projects that seek to enhance the effectiveness of Global Fund grants, and the response to the three pandemics overall, in innovative ways.”

The funding enabled French institutes, universities and civil society organisations involved in the work to keep better track of epidemics zone by zone, train new researchers and test out new tools.

Each year, funds have been awarded following calls for project proposals. In 2018, the focus was on improving the detection, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis.

Now, in 2022, the call is for operational research projects relating to "HIV, HPV and associated cancers". Projects will test innovative strategies to improve the quality, efficiency and access to early diagnostic, prevention and treatment services of Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers in people living with HIV (PLHIV).

This is yet another example of how operational researchers can save lives. Applying OR to projects that touch the lives of immunocompromised people with HIV, the human papillomavirus and associated cancers may lead to more lives saved and much suffering alleviated.

Benefits may include early detection, targeted treatment and improved cures, as well as better vaccination programmes and – ultimately – effective prevention programmes for some of these deadly diseases.

L’Initiative’s call for projects closes soon. As their website says, “In order to submit a project on this theme, applicants are invited to send a request for access to the Cloud link to upload their project proposal between 8 December 2021 and 19 January 2022.”

Find out more here: https://bit.ly/3tofgvW