Dr Meg Doherty, Director of WHO's Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Programmes (WHO/HHS), and Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Director of ANRS | Emerging infectious diseases, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at supporting and strengthening their collaboration in research and knowledge sharing to support global health policy development and implementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The signature took place on 27 June 2022, in Paris, during the annual meeting of the international network of the ANRS | Emerging infectious diseases.
To strengthen the technical and strategic collaboration, WHO and the ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at improving the scientific and technical cooperation between the 2 institutions in the area of HIV, hepatitis and STIs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), notably in west and central African countries, in the following overarching areas:
- jointly review research priorities for improving the prevention, treatment and care of HIV, hepatitis, and STIs and develop research programs and innovative approaches on identified priorities;
- facilitate the implementation and adaptation of priority research programs and innovative approaches by providing technical support and strengthening human and technical capacities across ANRS-MIE networks, in particular in LMICs where research programmes are implemented; and
- promote information sharing: knowledge sharing, dissemination, and transfer of research results to inform WHO global normative work, while supporting policy and programmatic decision making at national level, notably in ANRS-MIE partner countries.
The agreement was signed during the annual meeting of the Agency's international network – organized on 27 and 28 June 2022 at PariSanté Campus – which brought together researchers from partner countries and France, institutional representatives and associations, to present an inventory of the research carried out in partnership with the LMICs and to identify the common work priorities on all of its themes. Dr Meg Doherty presented the new WHO global health sector strategy on HIV, hepatitis and STIs and the opportunities for a strengthened partnership between the 2 institutions.
“Strengthening technical collaboration and research is an integral part of the global health sector strategies on, respectively, HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections for the period 2022–2030, to guide the health sector and accelerate the implementation of targeted strategic responses to achieve the goal of ending AIDS, viral hepatitis B and C and sexually transmitted infections by 2030,” said Dr Meg Doherty.
This first memorandum of understanding between WHO/HHS and ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases, takes place within a framework agreement between the Government of France and WHO for a re-enforced partnership for the period 2020–2025 that was signed on 31 December 2019.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to better coordinate research on a global scale and to involve French and international partners in a dynamic of cohesion. Today, it is essential to seize this commitment and take it beyond the field of emergence. The memorandum of understanding we are signing today reflects this mission, which aims in particular to contribute to the targets of the third Sustainable Development Goal by 2030,” said Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah.
About ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases
ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases, founded on 1 January 2021, is an autonomous agency of Inserm whose missions are to facilitate, evaluate, coordinate and fund research into HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (emerging respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, viral hemorrhagic fevers, arboviruses etc.).
Under the authority of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Health and Prevention, and directed by Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah, ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases covers all areas of research: fundamental, clinical, public health, human and social sciences, placing the accent on innovation and the strengthening of international partnerships.
With its One Health approach focused on human health, animal health and human impact on the environment, the agency is preparing a response to the scientific challenges presented by emerging diseases and for the deployment of that response in times of crisis.
The agency federates and facilitates a number of national and international networks of researchers and doctors employed by the principal research organizations, universities, hospitals, and associations. Patient associations and civil society representatives have a prominent place within the organization of ANRS | Emerging infectious diseases.