Each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports nearly 1.7 billion cases of childhood diarrhoeal disease globally, the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, leading to approximately 1.5 million deaths, including over 400,000 children under five. Diarrhoeal diseases remain the third leading cause of death in children aged one to 59 months, yet they are mostly preventable and treatable.
Climate change is now adding urgency. WHO projections estimate that, by 2030, climate change could cause approximately 48,000 additional deaths per year in children under 15 years from diarrhoea alone. Rising temperatures, flooding and heavy rainfall increase the incidence and spread of diarrhoeal diseases, and sub-Saharan Africa faces the sharpest risks.
Committed to advancing diarrhoeal diseases research
Global Health EDCTP3 has recently signed four projects to support late-stage clinical research and implementation studies on diarrhoeal diseases in the context of climate and health in sub-Saharan Africa.
With a combined investment of €21 million, CARE-Africa, PRoRota, HUNADIA and TARGET projects are expected to generate evidence on the populations most vulnerable to diarrhoeal diseases, including the effects of climate change, malnutrition and poor sanitation, while strengthening laboratory, regulatory and health system capacity across the continent.
These projects further expand Global Health EDCTP3’s investments in diarrhoeal disease research, supporting the development of innovative solutions.
CARE-Africa: Smarter clinical detection and decisions with artificial intelligence
The CARE-Africa project will develop an AI-based clinical decision-support tool that integrates patient data with automatically retrieved environmental, climate and socioeconomic information to generate a diagnosis, an estimate of antibiotic resistance likelihood and a treatment recommendation, all within five minutes on a tablet, even without an internet connection.
The tool will be developed and validated using data from Ethiopia and Uganda, then tested across 40 facilities in a study covering approximately 4,700 children.
“AI is generating exciting new possibilities in healthcare. By bringing together specialists from multiple areas, the CARE-Africa project is leveraging new technological opportunities to address a challenge faced by essentially every frontline health facility in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Tania Dottorini, Professor of Artificial Intelligence for Science, King's College London, United Kingdom, and CARE-Africa Project Coordinator.
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €4.8 million
PRoRota: Boosting vaccine protection from the start
Even when vaccines work, they do not always work equally well. Rotavirus vaccines have dramatically reduced childhood diarrhoeal deaths globally, but their performance is significantly lower in sub-Saharan Africa; a gap that may be linked to the composition of gut bacteria in young children.
'Probiotic supplements could have a range of benefits. As well as improving general gut health, they could help to boost immune responses to rotavirus vaccines, enhancing protection against one of the most important causes of diarrhoeal disease in sub-Saharan Africa.'
Kamija Phiri, Professor, Training and Research Unit of Excellence, Malawi, and PRoRota Scientific Lead
The PRoRota project will recruit 4,000 newborns in Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi and Tanzania to test whether probiotic supplementation, combined with rotavirus vaccination and WASH guidance, can improve vaccine responses and reduce diarrhoeal disease. Children will be followed for six months, with data collected on disease episodes, immune responses, growth, microbiome diversity and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Climate data collected at study sites will feed a predictive model for diarrhoeal disease hotspots.
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €5.3 million
HUNADIA: A new weapon against cholera
The HUNADIA project will conduct a phase III trial of VR-AD-1005 (VR), a new treatment designed to reduce the severe fluid loss caused by cholera. The drug works by blocking a protein in the gut that is activated by the cholera toxin and triggers excessive diarrhoea. In animal models, VR reduced stool volume by 70% and mortality by 30%. The project will recruit 1,200 patients across Cameroon, the DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Bangladesh for a large phase III trial.
'If its promising effects are confirmed, VR-AD-1005 could provide major benefits to patients, reducing the duration of disease, while also reducing demands on health systems and limiting the spread of infection.'
Dmitry Kravtsov, Chief Scientific Officer at Hunazine Biotech SL, Spain, and HUNADIA Project Coordinator.
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €5.6 million
TARGET: Improving treatment of diarrhoeal disease in malnourished children
The TARGET project will study 2,800 children in Kenya and Tanzania to improve the treatment of acute watery diarrhoea in malnourished children, who face a much higher risk of severe illness and death. Building on recent research showing that antibiotics can reduce hospitalisations and deaths by more than one-third in these children, the project will compare different treatments, test rapid diagnostic tools to detect bacterial infections, and investigate how climate conditions may influence the spread of diarrhoeal diseases.
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €5.8 million
Details
- Publication date
- 8 June 2026
- Author
- Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking