Brazil government unveils $18 million for Zika research

The federal government issued Thursday (Jun. 2) a bid notice offering funds adding up to $18 million for research studies on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infections caused by Zika virus and related diseases. Of this amount, $5.54 million come as part of the Health Ministry budget, $8.30 million from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and $4.15 million from the Ministry of Education.

The resources are made available courtesy of the Axle for Technological Development, Education and Research, under the National Plan for the Confrontation of the Aedes aegypti and Microcephaly, launched in December last year.

To be granted access to the funds, projects must be classified under one of the nine lines of research on Zika: the development of new diagnostic technologies, development and assessment of repellents and immunobiologics; innovation in health care service management, immunology and virology, epidemiology and health surveillance, vector control strategies, development of social technologies, innovation in environmental and sanitary education, and pathophysiology and clinical analysis.

Studies must be concluded within 48 months. Proposals are analyzed by experts and government consultants in four stages. The results are slated to be released early in the second semester this year. The projects approved will be divided into three funding rages: up to $138.4 thousand, from $138.4 thousand to $420 thousand, and from de $420 thousand to $690 thousand.

Health Ministry Ricardo Barros pointed out that the goal of the offer is to find tools for controlling and fighting Zika virus. “It is our absolute priority to fight the Aedes aegypti mosquito,” he said. Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Gilberto Kassab, in turn, described the initiative as a partnership between the federal government and the scientific community—“an opportunity to renew efforts,” he said.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira