The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases at WHO (TDR), The Union and its partners in the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) have been awarded a $500,000 grant to help Sierra Leone and Liberia use operational research to begin rebuilding their health systems, following the devastating Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014–15.
In the West African countries most severely affected, the outbreak caused very serious multi-sectoral setbacks to their development. Health sectors already recognised as weak were particularly affected with a number of key services ceasing to function or functioning in a very limited way.
A stakeholder meeting convened by the World Health Organization last August concluded that there was a need for operational research (OR) at district level to help restart key services and improve performance. The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) provided the funding for SORT IT to begin the project in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
As a result, in January, the partners conducted workshops on protocol development and data management in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Monrovia, Liberia. Participants developed research protocols and databases around a range of health priorities that are expected to contribute to the successful implementation of the countries’ National Post-Ebola Recovery Plans.
The participants will conduct their research over the next few months and share their preliminary results with their ministries of health. Additional SORT IT workshops will be held in each country in July to support the researchers in writing up their final results as papers for submission to peer-reviewed, open-access publications.
The Union is a key implementing partner in SORT IT – a global partnership led by TDR. SORT IT supports countries to conduct OR around their own priorities, build adequate and sustainable capacity for OR in public health programmes and promote evidence-informed public health action.