The Republic of Mozambique, a Portuguese-speaking country of 28 million people on the southeast coast of Africa, has experienced significant economic growth and distinct progress in improving health indicators over the past two decades. Since the end of a devastating civil war in 1992, health has been a government priority, particularly in response to the crushing burden of HIV/AIDS (the 2015 national prevalence was estimated at 13.2% among adults aged 15-49 years).

Building on the partnership with University of Liberia, College of Health Sciences (ULCHS), the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) will develop a develop a one-year research ethics education program for members of four institutional review boards (IRBs) in Monrovia, Liberia. Research education and training activities will adapt to the Liberian context from the well-established Collaborative Research Ethics Education (Formação Colaborativa em Etica na Pesquisa, FoCEP) Program for Mozambique.

The UEM Partnership for Research in Implementation Science in Mozambique (PRISM) program supports a partnership between VIGH and University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) in Mozambique to build upon the successes of the first five year grant and continues to build research capacity and conduct HIV-focused implementation science research at UEM.

Project Summary/ Abstract: The recent Ebola epidemic exposed the fragility of Sierra Leone´s health system and highlighted the inadequate investments to date that are needed to support a well-functioning system capable of responding to a disease outbreak of this magnitude.

Abstract: The growth in research activity projected for the next decade by the Mozambican government and multiple international agencies highlights the continued need for capacity building in research ethics well into the future. With the groundwork laid for systems of basic, translational, clinical and public health research, parallel capacity development in research ethics will be essential to address critical locally relevant research questions in an ethically-consistent way.