Canada-Australia research partnership for the prevention of emerging diseases

Avian flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), severe dengue, and other diseases have caused global concern in recent years. Nowhere more so than in Southeast Asia and China where these particular diseases were first recognized. The region has been called a global “hot spot” for disease emergence.

In 2010, IDRC, the Global Health Research Initiative, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) launched the Ecohealth Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Initiative (Eco EID), a multi-million dollar research collaboration in Southeast Asia and China aiming to improve knowledge and capacities to prevent and control new and re-emerging infectious diseases.

	IDRC / Arlyne Beeche
Open water containers can be breeding sites for mosquitoes carrying dengue

A multi-country collaboration for new knowledge on emerging diseases

Three research projects were selected through a competitive call in 2010. The teams include researchers from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. They examine how new diseases emerge and identify what can be done to prevent their spread among vulnerable populations.

The researchers are collaborating across scientific disciplines, government departments, and social sectors to apply an ecosystem approach to health. The research will help address how poverty, gender, and environmental degradation contribute to disease emergence. The initiative supports researchers’ efforts to guide decision-makers on how to use their findings to improve the health and well-being of people.

Building capacity for research and informed decision-making

The initiative supports activities that build and strengthen capacity for ecohealth research on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and generate knowledge to enhance prevention, preparedness, and response to EIDs in Southeast Asia in locally relevant and sustainable ways. For example, the Canadian non-governmental organization, Veterinarians without Borders, receives funding to strengthen capacities among researchers, development practitioners, and policymakers in the region to use ecohealth research and results to implement changes in policy.