Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

POINT OF CARE ULTRASOUND FOR PEDIATRIC LOWER RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Project description

Lung ultrasound for paediatric lower respiratory tract infections

Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) are the leading cause of child morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The World Health Organization prioritises research on using lung ultrasound (PLUS) to treat respiratory infections in children and addressing healthcare provider skills gaps through AI technology. The EU-funded IMCI-PLUS project is a pan-African-EU research partnership aimed at improving the management of paediatric LRTI in SSA. The project focuses on integrating point-of-care testing and management tools into healthcare policy and clinical practice in Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania, with a particular emphasis on assessing the impact and feasibility of PLUS. It aims to develop tailored clinical decision tools for managing LRTI syndromes across various healthcare settings.

Objective

IMCI-PLUS is an inter-disciplinary, Pan-African-EU research partnership, with emphasis on capacity strengthening and mutual learning, to improve management of pediatric lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI)–the leading cause of child morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)–by working towards the adoption of point of care lung ultrasound (PLUS) into healthcare policy and routine clinical practice. Current Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) guidelines fail to differentiate between uncommon severe bacterial infections and more ubiquitous self-limited viral illnesses; inappropriate antibiotic use is thus widespread and a key driver of antimicrobial resistance. Equally, tuberculosis cases are missed. The World Health Organization has identified the rigorous evaluation of PLUS to treat children with LRTI as a research priority, especially its health/economic impacts and operational barriers.
Including diverse settings within 3 SSA countries (Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania), IMCI-PLUS determines real-life health (antibiotic prescription and clinical outcomes) and economic (cost and cost-effectiveness) impact of integrating PLUS into LRTI management through a prospective randomised controlled trial, combined with evidence from implementation research among 8500 children. Stakeholder engagement to assess acceptability and feasibility informs a co-designed implementation package with key uptake barriers explored and addressed. A main barrier—healthcare provider skills gaps—is innovated through AI-enabled automated PLUS interpretation. IMCI-PLUS generates tailored clinical decision tools integrating PLUS to manage LRTI syndromes across a range of epidemiological and healthcare settings. A comprehensive, integrated translational research framework, focusing on mutual learning by involving stakeholders and patients meaningfully during all evidence generation and translation stages, enables adoption of research findings into policy and practice.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-JU-RIA - HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-GH-EDCTP3-2023-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

WITS HEALTH CONSORTIUM (PTY) LTD
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 279 857,50
Address
Princess of Wales Terrace, Parktown, 31
2193 Johannesburg
South Africa

See on map

Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 279 857,50

Participants (6)

Partners (3)

My booklet 0 0