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AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION
OTTAWA
MEDIA RELEASE
AUSTRALIA AND CANADA IN RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP FOR PREVENTING EMERGING DISEASES
AusAID, Australia’s development assistance agency, is partnering with Canadian agencies to deliver a $10 million collaborative research initiative in Southeast Asia on infectious disease emergence and prevention.
Southeast Asia is a global hotspot for disease emergence. Avian influenza, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and hemorrhagic dengue originated in the region. The diseases emerge from a complex system fuelled by poverty, poor animal husbandry and environmental degradation.
Research by AusAID in 2008 confirmed that research on disease emergence and prevention in the region gets trapped within the silos of the medical and veterinary fields. It also concluded that there are communication gaps between policy-makers and researchers, leading to policy not based on the best evidence.
The new initiative will support researchers in the region to collaborate across countries, disciplines and sectors to examine how new diseases emerge and what can be done to prevent spread through vulnerable populations. Researchers will also be supported to provide policy guidance to decision makers.
AusAID’s contribution of $1.7 million will specifically fund capacity building programs in applied ecosystem research approaches to emerging infectious diseases targeted to key Southeast Asian stakeholders. Funds will also contribute to one of several major emerging infectious diseases research projects on prevention and mitigation within vulnerable communities.
The program will be administered by Canada’s International Development Research Centre. Primary funding for the program will come from the Global Health Research Initiative, a partnership between Health Canada; the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the International Development Research Centre, the Canadian International Development Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada.