The Fleming Fund is a £265 million UK aid investment to tackle antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The programme is managed by the UK Department of Health and Social Care, in partnership with Mott MacDonald, the Fleming Fund Grants Management Agent.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSH&TM) is leading a three-year GCRF/ECSR-funded research project which aims to “support government and partners in strengthening the capacity of health systems to meet the mental health needs of refugees and host communities affected by protracted displacement in Lebanon.

Catastrophic bleeding after childbirth (postpartum haemorrhage) is a leading cause of deaths among mothers worldwide. It is especially problematic in Sub-Saharan Africa where it causes almost 50,000 deaths each year. Risk factors for fatal postpartum haemorrhage, like anaemia, are common among pregnant women across Sub-Saharan Africa. However, these risk factors are not well understood at a community level, and high-risk women may not give birth in a facility where postpartum haemorrhage could be managed. 

Two recent drought seasons in southern Africa have highlighted the vulnerability of agriculture to climate change. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices - such as minimum till, mulching, and crop rotations - are widely promoted as “climate smart” strategies targeted at small holder agriculture in the region. The benefits of CA are the subject of wide debateand policy makers and communities require a broad base of evidence from the natural and social sciences to support their decision-making.

One Health is the concept that the health and well-being of people is linked to the health of their animals and the environment.  It is nowhere more true than in the Horn of Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia) where many people’s livelihoods are highly, or in some cases entirely, dependent on livestock. Animals are culturally, socially and economically vital in the region, but are also a source of human disease. Outbreaks of disease in animals thereby directly affect people’s health but also their wealth and nutrition. Livestock production and human health and well-being in the Horn of Africa can be increased through research, leading to improved agricultural systems; more food and less malnutrition; more financial resilience; and better detection, diagnosis, prevention and control of disease.

Vector-borne diseases are pervasive, causing massive morbidity and mortality, and severely hindering economic growth across the developing world. Many of the current tools available are inadequate in urban environments or are failing due to insecticide resistance, and the evidence base for newer interventions remains weak. Selecting the most cost-effective, affordable, and acceptable tools to reduce the burden of vector borne disease requires an integrated approach involving vector biologists, economists, and anthropologists, working in partnership with national ministries of health, planning and finance.

‘Health Goals Malawi’ is a three-year project using football as a convenor to engage adolescent and young males aged 14-24 with health services, particularly HIV self-testing.  The project aims to reduce the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in Malawi, by raising awareness of support services and educating young people about the risks. The project works in partnership with Liverpool Football Club Foundation (LFC), the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW) and Population Services International (PSI) to support local community leaders and coached to engage with local youth, who are predominantly hard to reach, and the least likely to access health education and services such as self-testing and treatment plans.

This DFID-funded project synthesised information on research capacity strengthening (RCS) and made recommendations about how to better evaluate high-level outcomes and impact of such programmes, taking into account gender and inclusivity. As part of a strategy to increase capacity in the African region for RCS evaluations, the project was implemented in partnership with the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC).

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) established its Africa Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Open Lab Programme in 2014 as part of a series of strategic investments in sub-Saharan Africa.  The Open Lab Programme focused on increasing the understanding of NCDs in Africa, including examining the variations of some NCDs that are seen on the continent.

Building on work by the DfID funded ReBUILD research programme, the RECAP project aims to establish a research centre within the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, Sierra Leone, that will serve as a research coordinating centre, and lead on health systems research and capacity strengthening to deliver credible, relevant research for effective policy making and practice.

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) aims to improve global health by advancing research, patient care and public health in pulmonary disease, critical illness and sleep disorders. The ATS has established a three-level intensive programme, Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research (MECOR), which has a global reach, including Africa, China, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Vietnam.