Laying the foundations for the decade of maternal vaccines.

Photo by Geraint Hill/Stitching Pictures.

Infections are one of the key causes of newborn deaths. Among them, Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of sepsis and bacterial meningitis in the first 90 days of life.

Fortunately, GBS vaccines for pregnant women, a powerful tool for fighting infections, are currently in development. Once vaccine trials are completed, these vaccines can stop preventable newborn deaths.

The PROTECT consortium is supporting medical sites in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Uganda to establish uniform pregnancy and infant health data collection processes. It is also establishing surveillance of GBS in newborns to determine incidence rates and measure the burden of disease. With better reporting systems, medical sites can participate in vaccine trials and monitor vaccine safety. At the same time, the consortium is working to understand the drivers of vaccine hesitancy and to develop culturally appropriate communication tools to facilitate engagement with vaccines.

Our end goal is to set up a network of sites that can monitor vaccine safety for current and future vaccines.

Are you interested in finding out more about how we’re working towards this goal?

PROTECT is a consortium of African and European partners that bring together multidisciplinary skills. We believe in the importance of African leadership and of building on existing expertise in our partner countries.

Consortium:

  • Instituto de Salud Global Barcelona (ISGLOBAL), Spain

  • MU-JHU Care Ltd (MU JHU), Uganda

  • Aga Khan University Kenya (AKU), Kenya

  • Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), Malawi

  • Fundaçao Manhiça (FM), Mozambique

  • Universiteit Antwerpen (UANTWERPEN), Belgium

  • LINQ management GmbH (LINQ), Germany

  • City St George’s, University of London (CSG), United Kingdom

  • The University of Liverpool (UoL), United Kingdom

  • The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (UOXF), United Kingdom

Would you like to learn more about our team or get in touch?

Interested to find out more about the project? The video below, featuring project coordinators, summarizes the key activities: