The sub-Saharan Africa region faces an array of health challenges that are corrosive to economic development and regional stability.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria claim approximately 3 million lives in the region each year. Parasitic diseases, such as hookworm and schistosomiasis, also are prevalent, mostly among children, and cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and widespread suffering.
NIAID is at the forefront of research efforts to address the high disease burden in Africa and has had many notable successes in the region. For example, NIAID-supported trials in Africa showed that two doses of nevirapine, administered to mothers at childbirth and then to their infants soon after birth, reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV. More recently, clinical trials demonstrated that medically supervised circumcision of adult African men reduces their risk of acquiring HIV via heterosexual intercourse. A clinical trial in The Gambia showed that a pneumococcal vaccine substantially reduces pneumonia deaths among children. In 2014 NIAID-funded researchers identified a potential vaccine candidate for malaria in children.
NIAID-supported research collaborations in this region include an International Center for Excellence in Research (ICER) in Mali. The Mali ICER hosts researchers from NIAID intramural and extramural divisions.
In partnership with the Liberian government, NIAID launched a clinical trial on February 27, 2015, to obtain safety and efficacy data on the investigational drug ZMapp as a treatment for Ebola virus disease. The study, which will be conducted in Liberia and the United States, is a randomized controlled trial enrolling adults and children with known Ebola virus infection.
Contact Information
For more information about NIAID-funded activities in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, please email NIAIDOGRAMEE@mail.nih.gov.