The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific Region (WPR) and the WHO-hosted Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) are pleased to announce grant awards following the 2018–2019 call for applications of the Joint WPR/TDR Small Grants Scheme for implementation research in infectious diseases of poverty.
Ten research proposals from seven countries in the Western Pacific Region have been selected for funding. These research studies will address health system bottlenecks blocking the control of a variety of diseases including malaria, tuberculosis (TB), helminths and leprosy. The projects selected come from China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vietnam.
Five proposals focus on TB, two on leprosy, two on malaria and one on helminths.
The University of the Philippines Manila’s College of Public Health, for example, proposed identifying facilitators and barriers to implementation of local TB control programmes in the Province of Laguna, Philippines. Results of this project are expected to provide the Department of Health with a model that can be used in the design of strategies to engage local government units in the development and implementation of local TB elimination plans.
The Solomon Islands National University will engage civil society in vector surveillance for malaria, dengue and Zika virus. This will give community members the opportunity to directly participate in a study, allowing them to contribute to their own improved health outcomes.
The small grants programme is a joint effort of TDR and WHO WPR. Research priorities are identified in the region and proposals are reviewed jointly by WPR and TDR. The goal of the programme is to strengthen the research capacity of individuals and institutions in conducting implementation research; and facilitate and strengthen implementation research in countries for the control and elimination of infectious diseases of poverty.
The proposals funded this year are:
| Country | Disease | Proposal Title | Principal Investigator/ Name of Institution |
| China | Leprosy | The effect of leprosy syndromic surveillance programme to improve early diagnosis of leprosy and decrease the economic burden of leprosy patients | Xiong, Mingzhou/ Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University |
| Solomon Islands | Malaria | Citizen Science for Mosquito Vector Surveillance in Solomon Islands | Bugoro, Hugo/ Solomon Islands National University |
| Philippines | Tuberculosis | Assessing TB patient costs and treatment adherence in the Philippines by longitudinal data collection | Castro, Mary Christine/ Nutrition Center of the Philippines |
| Philippines | Tuberculosis | Identifying facilitators and barriers to implementation of local tuberculosis control programmes: A multiple case study research in selected local government units of the Province of Laguna | Antonio, Carl/ University of the Philippines Manila (College of Public Health) |
| Philippines | NTD (Helminths) | Ending the parasite transmission cycle: Experiences in using community-led total sanitation (CLTS) as an approach in reducing soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis prevalence in rural community, the Philippines | Lorenzo, Pauline Joy/ Research Institute for Tropical Medicine |
| Vietnam | Tuberculosis | Evaluate the feasibility of short regimen in latent tuberculosis infection treatment | Le Thi, Ngoc Anh/ Viet Nam National Lung Hospital |
| Malaysia | Tuberculosis | Implementation and economic evaluation of Gamified mobile apps tool for improved treatment adherence among working-aged TB patients in Malaysia | Ismail, Nurhuda/ Universiti Teknologi MARA (Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine) |
| Papua New Guinea | Leprosy | Pilot project of community-based leprosy detection, diagnosis, treatment and management within 2 highly endemic leprosy areas of PNG | Marome, Abel/ Department of Health |
| (National Health Services Standards Division) | |||
| China | Malaria | Assessment of malaria foci mapping in China after zero local transmission cases report | Zhang, Shaosen/ National Institute of Parasitic Diseases – China CDC Shanghai |
| Lao PDR | Tuberculosis | Assessing TB patient costs among TB/HIV patients and MDR-TB patients in Lao PDR | Chittamany, Phonenaly/ National Tuberculosis Centre |
For further information contact:
Dr Garry Aslanyan at TDR or Ms Glenda Gonzales at WPRO