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Summary
The Government of Canada research funders have joined efforts to support Canadian and African research teams to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as potential future outbreaks, more readily.

The initiative

The Rapid Research Fund (RRF) for Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks, supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, IDRC, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is a two-year, CA$1.5 million partnership aimed at sustainably improving Ebola response capacities in and around the current outbreak in the DRC.

Through this fund, the partners intend to enhance the mobilization of interdisciplinary teams of Canadian and African health and social scientists and humanists, as well as knowledge users, to help contain the current Ebola outbreak, and prevent or mitigate the regional impact of similar public health threats in future.

Additional objectives for the RRF are to:

  • Enhance the adaptive scaling of successful interventions in curbing Ebola transmission (and other diseases of similar relevance), and support the exploration of novel approaches to remaining challenges of outbreak mitigation and control;
  • Improve understanding of an effective role for international agencies in preventing and responding to Ebola outbreaks in Africa, including how international institutions can better engage local leadership to ensure that responses are culturally appropriate, community specific, and leverage local characteristics; and,
  • Support collaboration and policymaking that promote evidence-based practices to prevent or mitigate the impact of future Ebola threats in the DRC and surrounding region.

Explore research projects that we support.

Partners

Canadian institutes of health research
Social sciences and humanities research council of canada