The Water Reed Army Institute of Research, through the Joint West Africa Research Group (JWARG), has coordinated a shipment of supplies including personal protective equipment and a testing platform for the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) in response to a request for support during the COVID-19 emergency.
JWARG transferred gloves, masks, face shields, hand sanitizer and more to the AFL via the U.S. Embassy in Liberia in the last week of June. The group also supplied a Cephied testing platform, which was recommended as the best COVID-19 testing platform for environments such as Liberia.
JWARG is a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) funded Army-Navy collaborative initiative that leverages existing research platforms and relationships to improve biopreparedness by strengthening research capabilities in West Africa. JWARG aims to improve laboratory and clinical research capabilities in West Africa to enable the development of effective infectious diseases countermeasures including diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
Lead DOD JWARG partners include the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch at the The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the Austere Environment Consortium for Enhanced Sepsis Outcomes (ACESO). The initiative is collaborating with military, academic and clinical partners to conduct a study of suspected severe infectious diseases in Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana. In Liberia, JWARG works primarily with Phebe Hospital, Kolahun Hospital, Camp Edward Binyah Kesselly Clinic (Monrovia), and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (Charlesville) on research and biopreparedness efforts.