EDCPT invites grant proposals focusing on support for the establishment and the strengthening of African National Ethics Committees and Institutional Review Boards

The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCPT) is the agency that works to support the development of clinical interventions with abilities to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. These diseases account for over 6 million deaths each year, and the numbers are growing. Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s worst-affected region where besides ravaging lives, they impede development and cause poverty.

EDCTP aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines, microbicides and diagnostics against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, with a focus on phase II and III clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa.

EDCPT is currently inviting grant proposals with the aim to support the establishment and the strengthening of African National Ethics Committees and Institutional Review Boards.

Purpose of the Grant

Many sub-Saharan countries still lack competent ethical review capacities and in some cases this also applies to the national regulatory framework. The purpose of this grant is to:

• Promote the establishment and strengthening of National Ethics Committees (NECs) and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) that are competent and independent in sub-Saharan countries. The NECs and the IRBs are encouraged to establish themselves administratively and financially to ensure sustained optimal function beyond the EDCTP funding. Strengthening of NECs or IRBs aims at making them operational and gives support to their ongoing functions. Networking and training is encouraged and supported. Additional support in the form of online literature access, documentation, access to websites on ethics and GCP may be facilitated
• Encourage IRBs in countries where NECs do not exist, to contribute to the formation of a NEC. Where neither NECs nor local IRBs exist, EDCTP will encourage nationally recognised institutions or scientists affiliated to an established in-country institution to be contacted, in order to initiate the formation of the NEC.

General Requirements

• Applicants must provide a detailed description of the currently existing institutional and national ethics review structures as well as national regulatory authorities. This should include a description of efforts that have been made in order to avoid duplication of or conflict with already existing structures
• Applicants should be from countries, institutions and ethical review boards that have not received funding from EDCTP before through this scheme. A list of countries and institutions already supported by the scheme can be found on website: http://bit.ly/qEUTsI
• The maximum amount of grant requested from EDCTP should not exceed €50,000 per proposal. If the total budget for the project is over €50,000, applicants should specify the sources of the additional funds and provide formal letters of confirmation from the co-funding organisation
• This grant will only be awarded to projects with a maximum duration of up to 18 months.

Eligibility Criteria and Administrative Requirements

• Proposal must be submitted before the deadline in pdf-format
• Applications must be in English
• The application package should consist of Application Form including the embedded Work Plan and budget explanations, Budget Form, Legal Entity Form and Self-eligibility Check Form
• Project duration not exceeding 18 months
• Applicants should submit a support letter(s) from hosting institution(s). For applications from IRBs, an additional support letter from the NEC or appropriate body should be submitted.

Last date for submitting the proposals is December 15, 2011.

For more information and details, visit this link.