Results of IGORCADIA, a project funded by EDCTP and led by ISGlobal with support from JCONGD

It has been two years in Liberia strengthening the diagnostic capacities of infectious diseases in a work with four actors: the San José Hospital of Monrovia, ISGlobal, Juan Ciudad NGO and the Liberian Medicines Agency.

Last Monday, November 25, Cristina Muñoz, coordinator of IGORCADIA in Monrovia, presented the final results of the project to students and researchers from ISGlobal, aimed at strengthening the diagnosis of infectious diseases in Liberia. 

The Ebola outbreak in Liberia in 2014 highlighted the need for rapid and reliable tests to diagnose different infectious diseases that plague the region and can cause an epidemic.  

“Our experience in Liberia began with SEleCT, a project to strengthen laboratory capabilities at San José Hospital, following the Ebola outbreak. It was there that we realized there was a lack of capacity to regulate the use and development of diagnostic tests in the country,” explains Alfredo Mayor, ISGlobal researcher and project coordinator.

“When IGORCADIA began, there was no regulation whatsoever for these types of tests in the country,” Muñoz points out. “After two years of work, the authority responsible for regulating medicines and diagnostic tests now has a regulatory framework aligned with international standards.”

In addition to strengthening regulatory capacities, the project carried out a series of activities to train local staff in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. These activities included a practical exercise comparing the effectiveness of different diagnostic tests for malaria, a disease that continues to ravage the country. “Unlike many neighboring countries, malaria mortality in Liberia has increased from 201% to 3% in the last decade,” explains Muñoz. The project also conducted a series of interviews to assess community acceptance of establishing biological sample repositories (or biobanks). Rumors, fear, and mistrust are the main obstacles to getting people to consent to donating blood samples. “It would help a lot if researchers shared the results of their research with the communities. In the end, it’s all a matter of trust,” says Muñoz.

The project also carried out activities to establish or strengthen synergies among local, national, and regional stakeholders. “However,” Muñoz concludes, “it is necessary to find more funding and involve more public actors to continue these efforts in a country where the lack of investment in health is overwhelming.”

By ISGlobal Communications. https://www.isglobal.org/es/