Supporting the creation of clinical research centres in Africa

1In the early 2000s, a major clinical study was initiated in Senegal to demonstrate that triple antiretroviral therapy could be implemented in Africa for people living with HIV. This required a platform bringing together, under the same roof, all that was needed for patient care and quality research. This was how, after years of cooperation between IRD and its partners and with support from the EU and ANRS, the Fann Regional Centre for Research and Training in clinical management (CRCF) was established in 2005. Located within Dakar’s University Hospital, this is also an open platform used to train researchers from the Global South and North.

Patient follow-up, CERFIG, Guinea.

2Similarly, during the Ebola virus epidemic (2013-2016) in Guinea, the need to monitor survivors resulted in the opening of a facility centralising resources and skills: the Guinea Centre for Infectiology Research and Training (CERFIG), managed by partners since November 2017, organises multidisciplinary studies on emerging diseases in humans and animals.

Centre for infectiology research and training (CERFIG), Guinea.

3Meanwhile, in Benin, the need to perform several multi-centre trials for the treatment and prevention of malaria and to develop a malaria vaccine intended for pregnant women was the reason behind the creation of the Benin Clinical Research Institute (IRCB). Initially focused on specific diseases, such as CRCF and CERFIG, this new platform was extended to all communicable and non-communicable diseases, with a view to organising and participating in multi-centre trials in the Francophone sub-region.