The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine (RSTMH) in partnership with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has awarded two researchers at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research (CIDRZ) two(2) grants as part of the 2021 Small Grants Programme. The small grants program received 1,198 applications this year and awarded 200 grant applications. 

Tukiya Kanguya and Choolwe Sikasamba, both attached to the Social and Behavioural Science Unit won 1-year awards to conduct research on caregiving during the COVID-19 pandemic and perceptions regarding Helminths infections in Zambia respectively.

Tukiya Kanguya, a Research Coordinator on mental health and adolescent studies, will conduct an independent study titled, “COVID 19 and Informal Caregivers: What are the needs challenges in home management of COVID 19 cases” in reference to the Home-Based Care Model (HBC) developed by the Ministry of Health. The findings of this research can help reform and refine HBC guidelines as Zambia prepares for continued waves of COVID 19.

Choolwe Sikasamba, now with Higher Education Loans and Scholarships Board (HELSB), will explore “Perceptions on community-wide mass drug administration (MDA) for Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs) infections among caregivers in Lusaka Province” among family members including household STH prevention practices and barriers to uptake of MDA programmes. This research will help to design community-based behaviour change interventions to ensure effective control and elimination of soil-transmitted helminths infections.

Over the last 4 years the RSTMH has awarded small grants to early career researchers based across the world. The small grants often represent the first opportunity for those early in their careers to test out an idea and manage their own research project including budgeting, staffing, procurement, and producing reports.