Set up of a HPV reference centre and establishment of HPV research network within African region

This North South South proposal wants to reach three distinct results. First we will link up the interested researchers of different interested and participating VLIR-UOS collaborations. During a kick-off meeting the ongoing research will be described, a standardized survey protocol discussed and synchronized, recipients explained and distributed to all participants. A platform website will be created. It is well known that 99.9% of cervical cancers are caused by HPV infection especially HPV 16 and HPV 18. HPV vaccination is a high priority in African countries due to high incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer in these areas. Many African countries will be introducing HPV vaccines in the near future and others have already introduced the vaccines into national immunization programs. Other African countries will be introducing these vaccines without baseline data on the circulating HPV types. Although some countries such as Uganda and Kenya have documented HPV infection in men and women, data from these countries was documented through collaborative work with developed countries with expertise. For HPV research to be sustainable in Africa researchers need to be capacitated to perform any work in their countries. To generate epidemiological data for public health purposes, monitoring of HPV vaccination impact, conduct training on HPV testing and genotyping. The network will strengthen and capacitate the African countries with no expertise on HPV testing and genotyping to implement methods of HPV detection and HPV typing in their own individual laboratories in individual countries. Therefore, strengthening the VLIR network within African countries for further collaborations. During the following year all sites will conduct a HPV prevalence study to identify the circulating strains by age group. Biological samples will be sent and analyzed to the accredited HPV laboratory in Medunsa Limpopo. The accredited laboratory is established with VLIR-UOS IUC-UL funding. Results will be sent back to the sites for statistical analyses and writing up. The Burundian samples have already been collected and may be analyzed before 1st April, 2014. Some sites (RDCongo, Burundi and Uganda) will fund the fieldwork through their ongoing VLIR collaboration others will be supported by this NSS. Furthermore, the Congolese site will conduct a diagnostic-therapeutic study with a new HPV presumptive treatment in collaboration with private partners. Once the results of this diagnostic, therapeutic algorithm are known a multicenter trial will be in initiated. During the second HPV partner meeting all results will be shared. Ideally this meeting will serve as kick off meeting for an externally funded multi-center study where data-management, study monitors and sponsors will be equally invited to share study material, study procedures, etc…