In 2013, EDCTP celebrated its tenth anniversary marking a decade of partnership. This was a remarkable year in many ways, especially because commitments and decisions to continue and expand the programme were taken. Following the decision of EDCTP Participating States and the European Union (EU) not only to continue with the programme, but also to expand it, earnest preparations started to outline the new programme. To ensure there was no loss of momentum, EDCTP organised a series of stakeholder meetings on various themes to gather input on what the new programme should look like. To complement this, various mapping exercises were conducted to gather data on the research activities of the prospective Participating States within the scope of the EDCTP programme – neglected infectious diseases and implementation research included – from both Africa and Europe. The aim of the mapping exercises was to identify not only gaps and specific needs, but also areas of strength and where activities could be coordinated to enhance synergy.
Other undertakings to ensure readiness for the second EDCTP programme included continued capacity strengthening activities such as supporting 24 clinical laboratories in sub-Saharan Africa in their development towards accreditation. Furthermore, EDCTP launched a call for proposals in epidemiology and medical statistics in view of the current lack of capacity in this field. The call was received well and resulted in 52 eligible applications.
In order to consolidate what had been achieved to date, and to expand its activities, EDCTP reached out to potential new members in Europe and Africa. Advocacy and information dissemination visits were made to European Union Member States that were not part of EDCTP. Following these visits, expressions of interest have come from some countries, among which Finland and Latvia. EDCTP organised a high-level meeting in Dakar, Senegal, that brought together several African government ministers and high-level officials representing health research funding institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. At the meeting, several African governments showed their willingness to join EDCTP as members. EDCTP followed up with measures to change its legal implementation structure from a European Economic Interest Group to an Association under Dutch law. Such a structure allows African countries and non-EU countries that are associated to the European Union Framework Programme Horizon 2020, to join the organisation as members.
Other improvements in EDCTP’s governance included the streamlining of the advisory structure. In 2012, the Partnership Board and the Developing Countries Coordinating Committee were merged to form the Interim Strategic Advisory Committee and in 2013 this was replaced by the Scientific Advisory Committee. The Scientific Advisory Committee will serve both the current and the new programme on scientific and strategic matters. All of these preparatory activities took place on the background of continuing monitoring and supporting of many ongoing EDCTP-funded projects. By the end of its first decade, EDCTP had launched 65 calls and supported 246 projects with a total value of E 212.12 million; 106 of these were still ongoing. All of this could not have happened without the strong support of our stakeholders: research volunteers and their communities, especially from sub-Saharan Africa; the research community; international development partners; scientific peer reviewers; EDCTP advisory bodies; the European Union; our General Assembly members and many others. Special thanks go to our Secretariat, which has worked tirelessly and diligently over the past decade.
Charles S. Mgone
Executive Director
