IVI and Sierra Leone

 

Ongoing Collaboration

 

Global Burden of Human Papillomavirus (GLOBE HPV)

IVI and its partners are conducting GLOBE HPV, a global disease burden study to generate robust primary data on the prevalence and impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) among girls and women in low- and middle-income countries across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This five-year study aims to estimate the prevalence of high-risk HPV genotype infections among representative samples of girls and women aged 9 to 50 years, as well as specific subpopulations, to better understand the incidence of persistent HPV infection.

 

The study spans three countries in Asia: Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan; and five in sub-Saharan Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia.  In Sierra Leone, IVI works alongside the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS).

 

The study consists of cross-sectional surveys in general populations, longitudinal studies, special population studies, and qualitative research. In addition to assessing HPV prevalence, researchers will collect data on girls’ and women’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding HPV interventions, perceptions of gender norms and stigma, and gender-related factors that may influence HPV burden or create barriers to accessing and utilizing HPV prevention, screening, and treatment services. 

 

In 2024, large-scale cross-sectoral surveys and longitudinal cohort studies were launched across all eight countries. The findings from this study will provide a more accurate understanding of the HPV disease burden and the obstacles to effective interventions at both national and global levels. These insights will help inform policymakers and health program designers, guiding research and development efforts toward interventions with the greatest potential public health impact. 

 

GLOBE HPV is done in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Karolinska Institutet, and the U.S. CDC and is made possible by $17.2 million USD in funding from the Gates Foundation and the Government of Sweden.

 

Advancing Research Capacity in West Africa (ARC-WA)

Since 2023, IVI has been leading a consortium working on two tracks:

  • Track A: Preparing clinical trial sites in West Africa for Good Clinical Practices (GCP)-compliant Phase 2b and 3 Lassa Fever vaccine clinical trials.
  • Track B: Developing and advancing concepts specific for outbreak scenarios to prepare and sustain clinical trial facilities in West Africa and—together with local and regional partners as well as stakeholders in the global ecosystem—implementing clinical research strategies and procedures to rapidly initiate clinical evidence generation around vaccines and other biological countermeasures.

 

Clinical trial sites are being established in Kenema, Sierra Leone; Phebe, Liberia; and Owo, Irrua, Abakaliki, and Bauchi, Nigeria.  Wider engagement activities in West Africa and the Sahel are planned. 

 

The project is supported by a $17.9 million USD grant from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI sees this project in West Africa as a critical component of their 100 Day Mission, to be able to prepare the sub-continent with a disease-agnostic network that can respond to generate research to any pathogen in an outbreak scenario. They intend to work with Africa CDC to roll out a similar model across the whole of Africa.

 

Consortium members and partners include the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Margan Clinical Research Organization (MMARCRO) in Ghana, RCGH, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Germany, the CEPI Enable Project, IAVI, Pharmalys, IQVIA, Edes & Associates, and Africa CDC.

 

Sierra Leone is a non-member state of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). To read about IVI’s member state benefits package, click here.