PREPARE

Context

Repeated outbreaks in Africa, including mpox, Ebola and COVID-19, underscore the central role of public health and social measures (PHSM) in controlling epidemics and protecting fragile health systems. Even so, their effectiveness is difficult to assess, which can lead to inefficient measures and unintended consequences. PREPARE is a three-year operational research project being conducted in Guinea and Sierra Leone that focuses on adapting PHSM and assessing their feasibility. The project analyses how PHSM can be effectively implemented, taking into account country-specific contextual factors, to support decision-making on such measures. PREPARE includes a comprehensive review of existing studies and policy documents on PHSM in both countries, a feasibility study to assess PHSM implementation, and the dissemination of study results and recommendations for implementation and decision-making regarding PHSM. The results will inform the future implementation of PHSM in public health emergencies in these countries. Project activities are being developed in coordination with WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure alignment with existing guidelines, provide evidence for decision-making, and enable wide dissemination of the results. PREPARE is being carried out in partnership with the Ministries of Health, the National Institutes of Public Health, and academic institutions in both countries. In Guinea, the RKI collaborates with the University of Conakry, and in Sierra Leone, the project cooperates with the University of Sierra Leone.

Objective

Improved crisis response capacity in Africa through decision-makers’ access to contextually adapted evaluation protocols to generate and apply evidence on public health and social interventions during health emergencies

In Cooperation with

• Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
• ​​​Institut National de Santé Publique de la Guinée (INSP), Conakry, Guinea
• ​​​Centre d’excellence en Afrique pour la Prévention et le Contrôle des Maladies Transmissibles, Université Gamal Abdel Nasser (CEA-PCMT), Conakry, Guinea​​
• ​​National Public Health Agency-Sierra Leone (NPHA-SL), Freetown, Sierra Leone​
• ​​College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone