Central Africa Training Platform for Clinical Research on infectious diseases

The world is facing the silent “pandemic” of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Central Africa has the highest mortality rate (23.5 deaths/ 100,000) attributable to AMR in the world.

Research is desperately needed to better understand the burden of AMR in this region, and it is vital that this work is done by local researchers who will be the future leaders of scientific and clinical research in central Africa.

The overall aim of the Central Africa Training Platform for Clinical Research on infectious diseases (CATCR) project is to produce essential, world-class research in central Africa, for central Africa, by central African people. To achieve this, it is crucial that the critical mass of PhD and PostDocs in central Africa is increased.

Therefore, the consortium will (1) develop a multifaceted training programme on infectious diseases focusing on AMR for MSc, PhD and healthcare professionals; (2) develop a clinical fellowship programme of recruitment, training, evaluation and retention; (3) research the lack of knowledge on antimicrobial usage trends in patients with parasitic infections; (4) research the causal link between prevalence rates and influencing factors of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) and occurrence of AMR in humans and livestock; and (5) research to understand the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant TB characteristics in Central Africa.

Finally, (6) the project will focus on communicating, and disseminating research results.

Through CATCR, talented researchers, clinicians and health care professionals working on AMR in central Africa will benefit from access to fully-funded fellowships to complete ground-breaking research.

Public and regulatory authorities in Africa will use the research and newly established fellowships to develop vital AMR action plans and to increase the critical mass of researchers in the region will ultimately lead to benefits for patients and citizens of central Africa.