New health research scheme in Africa

A new scheme has been launched by Cambridge University to improve health research in Africa.

The renowned educational institution has joined with the Wellcome Trust for a new project called the African Institutions Initiative.

This is intending to increase the continent's research output from its current level of just 0.3 per cent of studies completed around the globe.

Problems to be focused on include HIV, malaria, TB and neglected tropical diseases.

A programme called Training Health Researchers into Vocational Excellence in East Africa (THRiVE) in Uganda is the first in which Cambridge University experts will be involved.

Professor David Dunne, Cambridge programme director, commented: "THRiVE will allow Cambridge researchers to form new academic and research links in Africa and be an important step in the development of Cambridge's long-term engagement in collaborative research, capacity strengthening, and training with African universities."

A new virtual network across four countries called the Institute for Infectious Diseases of Poverty is also being created with the assistance of Cambridge University.

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