Issue date: 20 August 2003
International research collaboration allocates millions for Asia-Pacific health
Millions of people, including children, die of what could be preventable diseases each year in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Wellcome Trust biomedical research charity has joined with the governments of Australia and New Zealand to launch a major research initiative which will tackle many of these health problems.
This important programme supports collaborations between researchers in Australia or New Zealand and those in developing countries of South and South-East Asia and the islands of the Pacific. It fits the Trust's mission to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health.
The Wellcome Trust has committed £6 million to the scheme, with another £4.5 million contributed by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and £1.3 million by New Zealand's Health Research Council.
Under this programme eleven separate studies will focus on a range of health issues including infectious and parasitic diseases, maternal and child health, obesity, trauma and public health in communities where resources for health care are limited.
The Trust has extensive experience of working with Australia and New Zealand, having invested more than £30 million on research excellence in these countries since 1984.
Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said the charity has a long standing commitment to tropical medicine and other health issues which affects the poorer nations of the world.
'The subject was one very close to the heart of Sir Henry Wellcome, under whose Will the Trust was founded,' Dr Walport said.
'It is particularly gratifying to see the diversity amongst the research programmes that will be supported and the range of developing countries involved. It is also important to point out that this is the first time the Trust has joined with governments outside the UK, to fund a specific programme. The success of this endeavour gives us confidence that such partnerships will in the future, be one way by which to maximise the impact of funding for research to improve health.'
Announcing the projects in Australia, the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, said 'the innovative scheme was an exciting venture which could have benefits worldwide and would harness the significant scientific talent that exists in Australia, New Zealand and a range of countries in our region.
'These are the first collaborative projects funded under this international scheme in what I hope will be an ongoing partnership between our three countries,' she said.
'These projects will not only focus on some of the most pressing health concerns of the region, they will provide valuable two-way training and any research outcomes have the potential to be groundbreaking and of use to countries worldwide facing similar health problems,' Senator Patterson said.
Dr Bruce Scoggins, Chief Executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand, said one exciting aspect of the collaboration was that it made a major contribution to capacity building for research for Pacific people.
'The scheme will invest in research into a number of very serious issues, such as obesity which affects people living in the Pacific region,' he said.
Ends
Media contact
Barry Gardner
Wellcome Trust
Tel: 020 7611 7329
E-mail:
b.gardner@wellcome.ac.uk
Note to editors:
The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-funding charity, established in 1936 under the will of tropical medicine pioneer Sir Henry Wellcome. The Trust's mission is to promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health.
Attachment
Total grants awarded: £11,860,000
Total Wellcome Trust component: £6,000,000
Total NHMRC component: £4,530,000
Total HRC NZ component: £1,330,000
1. Research and training to reduce morbidity and mortality from malaria in Papua (Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea
Total grant: £1,270,000
Wellcome Trust component: £600,000
NHMRC component: £670,000
HRC component: Nil
Principal applicants: Professor Nicholas Anstey, Dr Emiliana Tjitra
Co-applicants: Ric Norman Price, Isi Kevau, Peter Sly, Paul Harijanto
Institutions of principal applicants: Menzies School of Health Research; Australia; Ministry of Health, Indonesia
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): University of Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea; University of Western Australia, Australia; Bethesda Hospital, Indonesia
Malaria kills many thousands of people each year in Indonesia and PNG. This project will look at better ways to treat and prevent malaria. The team will examine whether using new combinations of drugs in clinics can reduce the amount of severe malaria seen in Papua. The team will examine whether giving people with severe malaria arginine, a naturally occurring amino acid, can increase molecules that may protect against severe malaria. Finally it will examine how lung damage occurs in people with severe malaria and whether this can be predicted.
2. Reducing deaths from pesticide poisoning: Establishing a regional toxicology research centre
Total grant: £1,250,000
Wellcome Trust component: £950,000
NHMRC component: £300,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Professor Nicholas Buckley, Professor Nimal Senanayeka
Co-applicants: Andrew Dawson, Rezvi Sheriff, David Henry, Ravindra Fernando
Institutions of principal applicants: Australian National University; Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): University of Newcastle; University of Columbo, Sri Lanka; University of Newcastle, Australia
The World Health Organization estimates suggest nearly half a million people die from acute pesticide poisoning in the Asia-Pacific region each year. The Sri Lankan project will be the first attempt to systematically test whether a range of strategies can reduce long-term neurological damage and deaths from pesticides. The Australian-Sri Lankan Collaboration will, over the next five years, aim to improve assessment of sub-acute and long-term morbidity; promote 'evidence-based' treatment; develop new antidotes (and assess their cost effectiveness), and see if pesticide regulation can reduce the rate of severe or fatal poisoning. If successful, this programme may become a model for the region as to how to substantially reduce this largely hidden tragedy.
3. Study of HPV 6 l1 virus like particles as a therapeutic vaccine for genital warts and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis
Total grant: £560,000
Wellcome Trust component: £310,000
NHMRC component: £250,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Professor Ian Frazer and Dr Jieqiang Lu
Co-applicants: BoBei Chen
Institutions of principal applicants: University of Queensland, Australia; Wenzhou Medical College, PR China
This project will examine the effectiveness of a vaccine designed to prevent tumours and cancers associated with papillomarvirus infection as treatment for existing infections, and will look for predictors of a favourable outcome from treatment.
4. Building evidence-based research and practice in South East Asia: Impact on pregnancy and childbirth care and outcomes
Total grant: £1,030,000
Wellcome Trust component: £480,000
NHMRC component: £550,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Professor David Henderson-Smart; Professor Pisake Lumbiganon
Co-applicants: Caroline Crowther; Mario Festin; Sally Green; Jacqueline Ho
Institutions of principal applicants: Queen Elizabeth II Research Institute, Australia; Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): University of Adelaide, Australia; University of Philippines, Philippines; Monash Medical Centre, Australia; Perak College of Medicine, Malaysia
Disorders related to pregnancy and childbirth are a major health issue in SE Asia. They represent one of the biggest health risk differences between the developed and developing world. By establishing a network of researchers and teachers of evidence-based health care across four SE Asian countries supported from Australia, this collaborative project aims to improve the clinical practice of treating pregnancy and childbirth related disorders and the health outcomes of mothers and infants in SE Asia.
5. Traffic related injury in the Pacific (TRIP) project
Total grant: £620,000
Wellcome Trust component: £300,000
NHMRC component: Nil
HRC NZ component: £320,000
Principal applicants: Professor Rodney Jackson; Professor Sitaleki Finau
Co-applicants: David Thomas; Lepani Waqatakirewa; Shanthi Neranjana Ameratunga; Gregory Dever
Institutions of principal applicants: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand; Fiji School of Medicine, Fiji
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): Ministry of Health, Fiji; Ministry of Health, Republic of Palau; Department of Health, Samoa
Injuries among road users are a major cause of death and disability globally and place a disproportionately high burden on low-resourced environments. Reliable information about the causes and consequences of road user injuries in Pacific countries is described as a 'black hole' denying the opportunity to prevent injuries or their serious consequences for those involved, their families and communities.
The Traffic Related Injury in the Pacific (TRIP) project is a comprehensive step-wise collaborative research project developed through the partnership of the University of Auckland, Fiji School of Medicine and Health Departments of Fiji, Samoa and Palau. The project aims to gain critical scientific knowledge that will help (1) prioritize effective strategies to prevent traffic-related injury in these Pacific communities, and (2) develop a trained and competent workforce to address other and future threats to the health and safety of Pacific people more generally.
6. Neonatal immunization with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Papua New Guinea
Total grant: £940,000
Wellcome Trust component: £460,000
NHMRC component: £480,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Professor Deborah Lehmann; Professor John Reeder
Co-applicants: Patrick Holt; William Pomat; Peter Richmond; Inoni Betuela
Institutions of principal applicants: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Australia; PNG Institute of Medical Research, Papua New Guinea
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): University of Western Australia, Australia
One million children die every year of pneumococcal (Pnc) disease, the majority in the third world. Many die in early infancy and babies may benefit from immunization with a Pnc conjugate vaccine (Prevenar™) at birth. The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Insatiate of Medical Research; Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the Department of Paediatrics, University of Western Australia, will collaborate to closely examine the safety of this approach, particularly with regard to impact on the development of immunity and response to other vaccines given to infants. This study will also provide a unique opportunity for training of PNG and Australian scientists in both countries; transfer state-of-the-art immunological technology and stimulate further collaborations on respiratory infections in the region.
7. Burden of disease and cost-effectiveness of intervention options: Informing policy choices and health system reform in Thailand
Total grant: £1,300,000
Wellcome Trust component: £980,000
NHMRC component: £320,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Dr Alan Lopez; Dr Wiput Phoolcharoen
Co-applicants: Theo Vos; Yarawat Porapakkham; Jeff Richardson; Porapan Punyaratabandhu
Institutions of principal applicants: School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia; Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): Monash University; Mahidol University, Thailand
This research project aims to improve the scientific basis for health services provision in Thailand by filling important gaps in knowledge about the causes of disease and the possibility of effectively intervening to reduce them. Since the accuracy of the routine death registration system in Thailand is unknown, it cannot be confidently used to guide policy. The team will evaluate how accurately causes of death are being recorded, both in urban and rural areas. It will also calculate how much disease and injury in Thailand is being caused by major risk factors, such as tobacco and unsafe sex. Using this information the team will evaluate the effectiveness of the major interventions to reduces diseases and injuries from risk factors that are affordable and applicable in the Thai context.
8. Pathways to improved, sustainable morbidity control and prevention of schistosomiasis in the People's Republic of China
Total grant: £1,000,000
Wellcome Trust component: £460,000
NHMRC component: £540,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Professor Donald McManus; Professor Zheng Feng
Co-applicants: Gail Williams; Jiagang Guo; Alex Loukas; Yuesheng Li
Institutions of principal applicants: Qld Institute of Medical Research, Australia; Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, PR China
Institutions of Co-applicants (if different): University of Queensland; the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Australia
600 million Chinese are infected with parasites. One of the most important of these is the Asia or Oriental human bloodfluke, Schistosoma japonicum. It causes schistosomiasis (Bilharzia), a very serious and debilitating disease and a major health problem for more than 40 million Chinese living in Southern China. Infection occurs when people make contact with water contaminated by microscopically small cerciriae larvae that are released from freshwater snails. As well as humans, Schistosoma japonicum infects a number of other mammals, such as water buffaloes, which complicates control efforts.
Current control is based on treatment with the drug parziquantel. Vaccines in combination with other control methods, including the use of new drugs, are needed to make elimination of the disease possible. This new programme of research has a very strong emphasis on mutual research training and scientific interaction that will: determine whether another drug, artemether, can be used as an aid in control; increase our understanding of the immunological and genetic processes involved in the development of the disease of schistosomiasis; determine the importance of buffalo infections in maintaining human schistosomiasis transmission; undertake genomics and post-genomics research on existing and new discovered S. japonicum molecules that are candidates as new vaccines and diagnostics; and develop a mathematical model that can predict the optimum methods for the sustained control of schistosomiasis in China.
9. Enterovirus 71 in the Asia-Pacific region: reverse genetic approaches to virus surveillance and vaccine development
Total grant: £430,000
Wellcome Trust component: £160,000
NHMRC component: £270,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Professor Peter McMinn; Professor Mary Cardosa
Co-applicants: Andrew Kiyu
Institutions of principal applicants: Institute for Child Health Research, Australia; University Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): Ministry of Health, Malaysia
In this research the team will use advanced biotechnological techniques to study the distribution and virulence markers of an important emerging infectious disease, enterovirus 71 encephalitis, in the Asia-Pacific region. The knowledge and technical advances derived from this study will be shared with neighbouring countries in order to conduct sensitive surveillance for this infection throughout the region. The study's other major aim is to use cutting-edge biotechnological techniques to develop a genetically defined, live attenuated vaccine strain. Candidate vaccine strains will be tested for their effectiveness in both cell culture-based and animal models.
10. Thai health-risk transition: A national cohort study
Total grant: £1,110,000
Wellcome Trust component: £610,000
NHMRC component: £500,000
HRC NZ component: Nil
Principal applicants: Dr Adrian Sleigh; Dr Sam-ang Seubsman
Co-applicants: Anthony McMichael; Tippawan Prapamontol; Tord Kjellstrom; Boonchai Somboonsook; Bruce Caldwell; Suwanee Khamman; Jane Dixon; Duangkae Vilainerun; Lynette Lim; Nuchjaree Kamolsukudom; Christopher Bain
Institutions of principal applicants: Australian National University, Australia; Sukothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): Chiang Mai University, Thailand; Ministry of Public Health, Thailand; Office of National Economic and Social Development Board, Thailand; University of Queensland, Australia
Thailand's disease patterns are changing. Some changes are good but others, like emerging diabetes, heart disease and injuries, are of concern. Development-related 'health transition' can be optimized if there is information on new causes of disease - immediate risk factors, and 'upstream' economic, cultural and environmental influences. The team will study this health-risk transition in the whole Thai population - looking back 50 years, then forwards in 100,000 Sukothai Thammathirat Open University students living all over Thailand and followed for four years. The team will map changing risks and upstream influences, produce information for Thai preventive programmes, boost regional research capacity, create a regional partnership, and support PhD and postdoctoral training.
11. The Pacific OPIC study: A four country study of obesity prevention in communities
Total grant: £2,350,000
Wellcome Trust component: £670,000
NHMRC component: £650,000
HRC NZ component: £1,030,000
Principal applicants: Professor Boyd Swinburn; Associate Professor Robert Scragg and Dr Jan Pryor
Co-applicants: Sitaleki Finau; Robert Charles Carter; Marita McCabe; David Robert Thomas; Colin Fonotau Tukuitonga
Institutions of principle applicants: Deakin University, Australia; University of Auckland, New Zealand; Fiji School of Medicine, Fiji
Institutions of co-applicants (if different): University of Melbourne, Australia; Ministry of Health, New Zealand
Obesity is a rapidly escalating, worldwide epidemic. Many countries recognize the need to prevent obesity but there is insufficient evidence about what interventions work. The Pacific Obesity Prevention in Communities (OPIC) Project will provide data on the effectiveness of a range of interventions to prevent obesity among young people in Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia.
Prevention research is particularly required in countries such as Fiji and Tonga because their prevalence of obesity is extremely high. The interventions used in this project will be culturally appropriate and include at least 1000 young people in each intervention group. The outcomes of this project will be applicable to both low- and high-income countries. This project will lead to a greater understanding of the socio-cultural, policy, and economic contexts and provide crucial evidence for public health action to prevent obesity.