Research and innovation
- Only 3.6% of global clinical trials take place in Africa (clinicaltrials.gov).
- Many diseases remain understudied due to a lack of research adapted to local contexts.
- About 20% of ALIMA’s work is dedicated to humanitarian medical research.
In the face of health crises and humanitarian challenges, medical research plays a key role in adapting care to real-world conditions. ALIMA bridges the gap between research and humanitarian action to develop innovative solutions and improve the effectiveness of medical interventions in Africa.
Humanitarian context and challenge
A lack of research in humanitarian contexts
Clinical research is essential to improve medical care, yet it remains underdeveloped in low-income countries. This leads to:
- A lack of clinical trials adapted to the needs of humanitarian fields.
- An insufficient response to emerging epidemics, due to a lack of existing and locally available treatments.
- Standardized care protocols are incomplete for certain diseases in Africa.
💡 Why does this matter?
- An urgent need for solutions adapted to low-resource contexts.
- An essential link between humanitarian action and medical innovation.
- An opportunity to sustainably improve the health of vulnerable populations.
📌 Over 50 research projects have been conducted by ALIMA since 2009.
📌 Over 10 ongoing projects, covering infectious diseases, malnutrition, and maternal and child health.
➡️ To address these challenges, ALIMA places research and innovation at the heart of its mission.
ALIMA’s action
💡 How does ALIMA link research and humanitarian action?
ALIMA develops collaborative and operational research projects to improve medical care in emergency contexts.
🔹 CORAL: a unique collaborative research platform
🔬 Launched in 2016, the Clinical and Operational Research Alliance (CORAL) brings together:
- ALIMA
- Inserm GHiGS (Global Health in the Global South)
- PACCI (ANRS Program, Côte d’Ivoire)
🎯 Goal: integrating medical research into humanitarian action in Africa to fight emerging diseases and improve maternal and child health.
🔹Improving malnutrition management
OptiMA (Optimizing the Management of Acute Malnutrition)
- Tested in Burkina Faso (2016-2018), OptiMA has proven its effectiveness by simplifying treatment protocols for faster and more accessible care.
- The program is being expanded to Niger, Mali, and DRC to treat more children.
- MUAC for Mothers: a tool that enables mothers to detect malnutrition early using a simple bracelet to measure their child’s upper arm circumference.
🔹Clinical research on viral hemorrhagic fevers
Response to Ebola outbreaks and other emerging infectious diseases
- During the 2018-2019 Ebola outbreak in the DRC, ALIMA, in collaboration with the PALM consortium, helped identify two treatments that reduced mortality rates to less than 20% (compared to up to 90% previously).
- Development of innovative solutions such as the CUBE (Biosecure Emergency Room for Epidemics), allowing safe patient care in high-risk environments.
📌 ALIMA is currently leading several studies on emerging infectious diseases to test drugs for Lassa fever (INTEGRATE) or for Ebola post-exposure prophylaxis (IMOVA, EBOPEP).
Our research partners
ALIMA collaborates with many research centers, universities, and health institutions:
🏛 Academic and medical institutions
- Inserm – French National Institute for Health and Medical Research
- IRD – Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
- ISPED – Institute of Public Health, Epidemiology, and Development
- ITM – Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
- INRB – National Institute for Biomedical Research, DRC
International organizations and research programs
- NIH – U.S. National Institutes of Health
- ANRS-MIE – French National Agency for Research on Emerging Infectious Diseases
- EDCTP – Europe-Developing Countries Partnership for Clinical Trials
- ALERRT – African Coalition for Training and Response in Epidemic Research
💊 Clinical research initiatives
- PAC-CI – ANRS Program Côte d’Ivoire
- DNDi – Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative
- Unitaid, GiveWell Foundation, Fondation WAM
Our main ongoing research programs
- Wakobo Ti Kodro
- Nutrivax Measle
- RISQ
- OPTIMAX
- EBO-PEP
- IMOVA
- INTEGRATE
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- To adapt care to real-world challenges.
- To improve protocols for the management of understudied diseases.
- To strengthen responsiveness to emerging epidemics.
- Child malnutrition (OptiMA, MUAC for Mothers)
- Viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, Lassa)
- Maternal and child health & pediatrics (AIRE, Wakobo)
Through collaborations with international research institutes and funding from organizations such as Unitaid, EDCTP, ANRS-MIE, and the GiveWell Foundation.
On the ground
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