Proposals for The Ethics of Public Health Preparedness and Response
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Deadline: 26-Oct-20
The World Health Organization (WHO) Health Ethics and Governance Unit invites which address the ethics of COVID19 public health preparedness and response. This call for proposals has been issued to support both the work of the Unit and PHEPREN (the Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Ethics Network), which is currently focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seed Grants
WHO is a public international organization, consisting of 194 Member States, and a Specialized Agency of the United Nations with the mandate to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work. As such, WHO is dependent on the budgetary and extra-budgetary contributions it receives for the implementation of its activities.
Thematic Areas
Research proposals may address any significant ethical aspects of public health preparedness and response to COVID-19. Themes of interest to WHO and PHEPREN include:
Vulnerabilities & inequalities – stigma & discrimination, social determinants of health, structural inequalities, vulnerable populations, global health justice
Resource allocation – approaches to allocating scarce health-related resources within pandemic contexts (including vaccines & therapeutics, personal protective equipment, and clinical care for a range of health needs)
Political responsibilities – preparedness & public health responses, solidarity & collective interests, individual interests & rights, policy-making, corruption
Containment approaches – including population-wide & targeted requirements for physical distancing, isolation & quarantine, proposals for immunity certifications
Surveillance & monitoring – including the use of digital technologies i.e. apps and algorithms to monitor and model population movements and COVID transmission patterns
Engagement & communication – participatory approaches & access to reliable information, information needs, miscommunication & misinformation, competing discourses, social media & infodemics
Health systems – clinical ethics, public health ethics, MEURI & emergency use of unproven clinical interventions outside research, health-worker interests & responsibilities
Data & sample sharing – sharing pathogen samples, genomic, pathogen, research, clinical, epidemiological & surveillance data, and research methods & outputs
Research prioritization & oversight – accelerated research pathways, approaches to ethical and regulatory review, including strengthening local ethics review, community & participant interests, dissemination & publication
Funding Information
The maximum amount of funding available will be up to US$ 25,000.
The activities will be implemented across four to five months and the end date should not exceed 31 March 2021.
Eligibility Criteria
Proposals will be chosen based on the following criteria:
Lead researcher / project team expertise and experience [25%]
Design and proposed outputs of the study proposal [50%]
Cost-effectiveness and value for money [25%].
Please note that they would particularly welcome collaborative proposals:
Between High income and Low and middle- income (LMICs) countries and;
Between LMICs.
Proposal development:
The proposal and all correspondence and documents relating thereto shall be prepared and submitted in the English language.
Information which the bidder considers confidential, if any, should be clearly marked as such.
In response to the aims of the proposal, a range of activities may be planned including:
Systematic reviews of relevant literature;
Empirical research incorporating novel data collection and analysis;
Participatory approaches to the development of policy and guidance;
The development of capacity building and training resources;
Theoretical and conceptual analyses;
Proposals should clearly identify intended outputs and outline how these can support communities, policy makers, researchers, and responders responding to ethical issues arising out of global health emergencies.
Bidders are encouraged to propose activities which:
advance policy development, governance and oversight, and / or;
respond to vulnerabilities and inequalities engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic and public health emergencies more generally.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2Fp8S0Z