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Research conducted by LSHTM has informed the delivery of a 30-year WHO strategy aimed at reducing the devastating burden of liver cancer in Africa and least developed countries in other regions. Studies evaluating the effectiveness of the Gambia Hepatitis Intervention Study (GHIS) - the only randomised trial of a hepatitis B vaccine with a disease endpoint in Africa - have shaped current WHO policy recommendations for vaccinations against the virus, enabling WHO to advise against the need for a booster programme, and protecting governments in the less developed world from significant additional expenditure.
Research conducted by the Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice (CSPSJ) led to a new way of assessing child poverty in developing countries. This novel method (termed the Bristol Approach) resulted in the United Nations General Assembly's adoption, for the first time, of an international definition of child poverty (2006). It also underpinned UNICEFs Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities (2008-10), which was run in over 50 countries. In the last ten years, the CSPSJ's work has put child poverty at the centre of international social and public policy debates. Its researchers have advised governments and international agencies on devising anti-poverty strategies and programmes that specifically meet the needs of children, and have significantly influenced the way child poverty is studied around the world. The Centre has developed academic and professional training courses for organisations like UNICEF on the issues of children's rights and child-poverty. Our work has also spurred NGOs such as Save the Children to develop their own child-development indices, and so has had a direct and profound impact on the lives of poor children around the planet.
Reading research has led to changes in policies and activities of national and international organisations that support the development of smallholder agriculture, particularly those who focus on provision of climate and weather information. Over the 2008-2013 period, the research has resulted in improved understanding of farmers' perceptions and information needs together with the design and implementation of methods for providing climate information services that better reflect smallholders' requirements. The research has to date had impact on the policies and activities of organisations responsible for design and delivery of climate information and services in at least 10 countries in Africa and South Asia and benefited thousands of farmers.
Communicable diseases are a major health burden in the developing world. Early detection and accurate identification of infectious agents is key to their management. However, the complex procedures and logistics of current diagnostic tests often make them unsuitable for use in developing countries. Two technology platforms have been developed that have led to a new generation of simple and inexpensive rapid tests that can be applied in resource-limited settings. A spinout company was set up to allow translation of these platforms into new products. Three tests (Chlamydia, Hepatitis B and HIV) were launched since 2008, with test kits marketed, allowing patients to receive treatment for infections which would have previously gone unnoticed and untreated. The spinout company has raised >$30 million, of which >$20million is since 2008.
Based on research at UWE into mobile banking regulation, telecoms companies have been able to contribute to growth in these emerging markets internationally. The UWE findings have enabled them to understand the anti-money laundering (AML) and banking regulation implications of their mobile banking initiatives, giving them confidence and competitive advantage in negotiations by being fully versed in the local and international implications associated with mobile money and AML banking regulation. As a result, the France Telecom Group (FTG) has been able to successfully launch new subsidiaries in Tunisia, Niger, Armenia and Uganda which, by bringing mobile money services to new markets, has had a significant impact on local economies and employment.
Impact on health and public policy: The World Health Organisation (WHO) now recommends that children under 6 years, who had hitherto been excluded from drug treatment, should be included in schistosome control programmes, following research by UoE that reversed previous assumptions about schistosomiasis infection rates in pre-school children (1-5 year olds) and demonstrated the safety and efficacy of Praziquantel (PZQ) treatment in this age group.
Beneficiaries: WHO policy change affects children under the age of 6 years in countries affected by schistosomiasis (up to 10 million children). 350,000 pre-school children in Zimbabwe have so far been treated with PZQ, with a further 1.2 million already identified by the Ministry of Health for inclusion in the next round of MDA to start in October 2013
Significance and Reach: 5-10 million pre-school children in Africa (WHO estimates) now merit treatment. Urogenital schistosomiasis affects more than 100 million people in Africa; in affected populations, children carry the heaviest burden of the disease. Following the recommendations from the WHO on preschool children, 4 countries (Niger, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe) have so far included pre-school children in their schistosome control policies with Zimbabwe currently implementing this.
Attribution: Dr Francisca Mutapi led the research at UoE establishing the evidence base for the safety and efficacy of PZQ. The study was collaborative with UoE leading the research and conducting the laboratory studies, while collaborators at the University of Zimbabwe and National Institutes of Health Research in Zimbabwe organised the fieldwork.
Locust and grasshopper outbreaks can form swarms containing billions of insects, creating feared and damaging agricultural pests. Following research at Imperial College London, the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum was developed into an oil formulated product (`Green Muscle®') that could be applied by ground-based and aerial spray equipment at ultra-low volume (ULV) rates, when locust and grasshopper populations periodically increased. Green Muscle® has since been used to treat locust outbreaks in Israel and five southern African countries. Green Guard®, an associated mycoinsecticide marketed in Australia, has been used extensively to control locusts in regions where there are land use limitations on chemical pesticides. Both Green Musclef6da and Green Guardf6da are supplied by Becker Underwood. Besides the success of Metarhizium as an effective, environmentally-friendly locust control option, substantial science and enabling technology ensued, that should accelerate the development of other mycopesticides as important alternatives to currently beleaguered chemical pest control methods.
Meningococcal meningitis affects up to 100,000 people and causes around 10,000 deaths annually in the African `meningitis belt', a region of sub-Saharan Africa stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. Dr Blyuss has developed a mathematical model that is able to explain the observed patterns of dynamics of this disease in terms of immunity and seasonality. This model is currently used by the Meningitis Vaccine Project to design optimal strategies for the control of meningococcal meningitis in the endemic areas, to inform specific public-health decisions regarding the deployment of the MenAfriVac™ vaccine, and to assess its effectiveness. Other epidemiologists, including those at the World Health Organization (WHO), are also using the model to improve public-health policies aimed at combating meningitis.
NRI's research in Africa has been influential in shifting thinking, policy and practice on customary land tenure and promotion of land tenure security. In particular it has promoted the recognition that customary tenure systems can sometimes provide a high degree of tenure security and do not need to be replaced wholesale, and that a variety of alternative approaches to conventional land titling are available. This led international agencies to develop new approaches and guidelines for land policy and set the stage for a new generation of land tenure projects and programme interventions in Africa, to which NRI is also actively contributing.