The main concern of clinicians when addressing sick patients is to promptly identify -i.e., “not miss”- those at higher risk of severe disease, so as to prioritize their care and better target therapeutic interventions. Unfortunately, risk-stratification practices for infections remain suboptimal and prone to misclassification, leading to adverse outcomes and misallocation of resources, particularly in children (and even more so among newborns) from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We recently developed “B-Triage”, a point-of-care rapid triaging test, designed for the quantitative assessment of sTREM-1, a biomarker of sepsis, and a highly performing prognostic marker, irrespective of underlying disease. Levels of sTREM-1 stand out as a quantitative and independent predictor of severity and death in all-cause infections, being superior to other markers and clinical scores, showing promise also for risk-stratification of non-communicable diseases. We propose to specifically validate B-Triage for risk-stratification of all cause sickness in the newborn, the age group concentrating ~50% of all child mortality. ACROBAT-newborns aims to continue and accelerate the valorisation of our device, with clinical studies in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Uganda and Gabon; the industrialization of its prototype; and a go-to market strategy for SSA. The project includes strong components of health economics and impact assessment, as well as socio-behavioural sciences (usability, acceptability, and feasibility studies), with the overarching aim of generating the necessary evidence to support B-Triage’s introduction to the African market. The proactive use of our device for risk-stratification of the sick newborn at first clinical presentation, will determine, objectively and with high precision, those at risk of severe outcome and death, resulting in improved outcomes and survival, and an optimized use of healthcare resources, including antibiotics and high value therapeutics.

To improve the health outcomes of its citizens, Ethiopia must take steps to meet SDG3.4 and decrease the number of premature deaths caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCD deaths are preventable by tackling their risk factors: unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and air pollution. These risk factors are becoming increasingly prevalent in urban sites and have their origins in fetal life, and focusing prevention policies on pregnancy can yield significant benefits. Pregnancy is a unique opportunity for lifestyle interventions and antenatal care (ANC) has long been a key strategy for health promotion, disease prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment. The high ANC coverage in urban Ethiopia makes it an ideal program to support access and utilization of quality NCD services for prevention and risk reduction in urban populations. Guided by the immediate need for high-quality implementation research and evaluations in real-word settings to tackle the multisectoral and complex challenges of NCD prevention, we will fill the implementation knowledge gaps by developing, implementing, and assessing the impact of a novel prevention program in four diverse urban sites. We will apply user-centered approaches to adapt effective evidence-based WHO guidelines and implementation strategies with beneficiaries and stakeholders. Our approach for achieving behavior change in pregnant women is twofold: i) thorough assessments of women’s environments and environmental risks, as wider determinants of health; ii) integration of implementation strategies into the National Health Information system of Ethiopia. We will provide real-word evidence for the impact of implementation for behavior change, NCD risk reduction and better maternal and child health. ENABLE will support care providers for continuity and quality of overall healthcare and of NCD care and surveillance, and ultimately strengthen the Ethiopian public health system towards better health for all.

Food security in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is under threat, and unless agricultural productivity in the region doubles within the next 2 decades, it will face major consequences in terms of famine and associated problems. Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) are microscopic roundworms whose unmanaged presence has a massively deleterious effect on crop productivity. They infect many plants of great economic importance, including maize, potato, soybean and banana, resulting in annual yield losses of billions of USD worldwide. Notably in SSA, a poor understanding and awareness of nematology within higher education has resulted in a lack of trained nematode scientists and professionals, both in non-profit and private sectors. As a consequence, the importance of PPN management remains overlooked, effectively sabotaging potential for improved agricultural productivity. The inclusion of nematology at the initial stages of higher education in Africa is crucial to maximise the number of students exposed to the discipline, resulting in better-prepared, fully-informed BSc and MSc graduates entering the job market. In SSA, increasing the numbers of well-trained nematology students will be vital in addressing the many nematology-related problems in the area, as well as in providing sustainable solutions to food security and environmental health in the region.The main aim of the NEMEDUSSA project is to support this academic transformation via promotion of nematology in selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and by transforming these selected HEIs into regional centres of excellence for nematology education. To achieve this overall objective, the aims of NEMEDUSSA are to:• enhance nematology capacity at HEIs by professionalisation of staff and by upgrading facilities;• develop BSc and MSc modules in nematology to be incorporated into existing HEI programmes; • establish a Pan-African Nematology Network; • disseminate awareness aand information to a range of stakeholders.

Food and nutrition security (FNS) remains a challenge for Africa, despite efforts made in agricultural research and extension in the past, due to inefficient implementation and exchange of technologies and knowledge to end users. The main objective of InnovAfrica is to improve FNS by integrating sustainable agriculture intensification (SAI) systems, innovative institutional approaches (IIAs) with novel extension and advisory services (EASs) and enhancing smallholder adaptive capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). InnovAfrica addresses main challenges of the work programme (SFS-42-2016), through a strong multidisciplinary EU-Africa consortium of 16 partners, supported by 6 active Multi-Actor Platforms (MAPs) in 6 case countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa). InnovAfrica will test, integrate, and disseminate SAI systems suitable to smallholders, institutional approaches (e.g. MAPs, seed delivery systems) and EASs (e.g. dynamic knowledge platforms supported by smart phones, Village Knowledge centers). The main outcomes of InnovAfrica include: i) better understanding of the needs and opportunities of SAI systems in Africa, ii) improved knowledge and innovation capacity of farmers to implement SAI systems supported by IIAs and EASs, iii) improved product value chains through viable IIAs benefiting women and youth, iv) Innovative policies, increased knowledge of public-private partnerships to strengthen agri-business model in case countries with a view to upscaling successes in other regions through functional MAPs, v) Wider dissemination of SAI systems to smallholders and women within and outside project areas through effective use of smart phones and social media, and vi) Stronger EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership to achieve FNS. The outcomes will contribute to smallholder productivity, profitability; and nutritional benefits while reducing negative environmental impacts and enhance FNS and sustainable agriculture in Africa.