Objective
Malaria is a life-threatening disease causing more than 500,000 deaths every year in sub-Saharan Africa. Prevention of the disease is best achieved by vector control which relies on the use of insecticides. Monitoring mosquito vector populations is an integral component of control programmes and a prerequisite for effective interventions. Several individual methods are used for this task, However, there are obstacles to their uptake, as well as challenges in organizing, interpreting and communicating vector control data.
We will develop a fully integrated and automated multiplex vector-diagnostic platform (LabDisk) for monitoring the species ID, the infection status of mosquitoes and the insecticide resistance profile of malaria vector populations. The system will provide sample-to-answer determinations, and it will perform genotyping at substantially lower cost, compared to the assays that are currently used in Africa.
The LabDisk will be interfaced with a Disease Data Management System (DDMS), custom made data management software which will collect data from routine entomological monitoring activities, store, and make available stratified information based on “user queries” in a standardized way.
The “GAME”, a modern ICT platform that employs interactive ways of communicating guidelines and exemplifying good practices of successful use of interventions in the health sector will be also employed, to teach operational end users the use of data to make informed decisions.
The integrated system (LabDisk, DDMS & Game) will be implemented in four sub-Saharan African countries, highly representative of malaria settings and vector control problems, to support informed decision-making about vector control and disease management. It will cover the urgent needs of an existing “market” and will provide solution to end users, to address a most important societal challenge in Africa, the control of malaria. The system has a vast expansion potential in other applications.
Fields of science
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesmalaria
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesnucleic acids
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabases
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic healthepidemiology
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyinvertebrate zoology
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
70013 Irakleio
Greece
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Participants (9)
78052 Villingen Schwenning
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L35QA Liverpool
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Jimma
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10101 Lusaka
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Yaounde
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Participation ended
50041 Calenzano
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
4354 Esch Sur Alzette
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
4123 Allschwil
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11855 Athina
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