1 Malaria Swatted
Every day 3000 people, mostly children under five, die from malaria. There are about 300 million cases a year, 90 per cent in Africa. Drug resistance to malaria is a real problem, and new drugs are some way off. In an innovative Public Private Partnership, DFID with the World Health Organisation, GlaxoSmithKline and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, have worked to develop LAP/DAP, a combination of two existing anti-malarial compounds. It is an effective, safe and affordable drug, which will be made available in Africa later this year, at a preferential price.

2 The right road
People in remote communes of Cambodia and Vietnam are being been helped to get sustainable, maintainable and affordable roads. Commonly used surfaces, such as gravel, are expensive because they have to be trucked long distances, and can be lost within two years. But research showed that local clays, bricked and fired by waste rice husk, can produce bricks for road pavements with lives of over 20 years. Local people have been trained to construct and maintain their road accesses, with ownership being retained by the communes. The governments of Vietnam and Cambodia are now using these sustainable solutions.

3 Salt shake-up
Every year the extraordinarily simple Oral Rehydration Salt Solution (ORS) saves the lives of millions of children with diarrhoea in low income countries. However, nobody was clear what was the best mix of ingredients. Following a request from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine carried out a systematic review of data from trials that have been undertaken. As a direct result, the formula for ORS has been changed and implemented by WHO and UNICEF.

4 Tax rethink
The Uganda government has a strong decentralisation programme. However, collaborative research led by the University of East Anglia showed that decentralisation of taxation and privatisation of revenue could impose punitive burdens on economic activity and rural livelihoods – the opposite of what was intended. This has led to changes in the implementation of the government’s Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP).

5 Official complaint
Fighting corruption requires resources that the poor do not have: organisational strength to stand up to local elites, access to official information, technical skills to analyse accounts and legal resources to prosecute violation. However, research on innovative grassroots anti-corruption struggles in India, has shown that these are not insurmountable obstacles. A three-year study led by the Institute for Development Studies has identified practical techniques for combating local corruption and enhancing public accountability to the poor. These include public audits of local accounts, informal vigilance committees to monitor services and using qualified volunteers.

Research just an academic question?

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