PROTECT partners begin collaboration to improve maternal and child health in Africa

On 10-12 June, the PROTECT consortium met in Entebbe, Uganda, to kick off their collaboration. During this time, partners got to know each other better, while the different work packages progressed some of the ongoing joint work and solidified plans for upcoming activities.

PROTECT aims to improve maternal and child health in Africa by laying the groundwork for testing and distribution of upcoming vaccines, such as the Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine for pregnant women. More concretely, the partners will support medical sites in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Uganda to develop, test, and implement pregnancy and infant episode registries. Through these, they will collect data on pregnancies, deliveries, and infant follow-up to determine incidence rates and better understand the burden of GBS. The project's end goal is to set up a network of maternal vaccine trial sites in selected countries so that upcoming vaccines can be tested and later distributed in the most needed areas.

These ambitious goals require a lot of careful planning and preparatory work that was already underway by the time partners came together in Entebbe. The in-person meeting facilitated the exchange of ideas and offered different work packages an opportunity to discuss and finalise their research protocols. In addition to these specific discussions, all partners could participate in consortium-wide sessions related to project management and communications, ensuring a smooth progression of project activities and dissemination of results.

PROTECT is a high-stakes project with the potential to ensure that maternal vaccines are easily accessible where they are most needed. Following the fruitful kick-off meeting, partners are fully prepared to put their ambitious plans into action.

Illustration made during the kick-off meeting by Isaac Kabuye.

PROTECT is a 3-year project funded by the Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement N° 101145724. It is led by ISGlobal, Spain (coordinator) and MU-JHU Care Limited, Uganda (scientific project lead).