Coronavirus Research
As the UK enters lockdown because of coronavirus (or COVID-19 to give it its official name) we are taking a look at the latest research taking place around the world to combat the virus, and how Asthma UK is supporting this effort.
Who is funding research?
Coronavirus has prompted some of the world’s biggest foundations, companies and governments to release emergency funding for research with two main aims:
To better understand the virus
To develop new ways to diagnose and treat it.
Organisations making donations include the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust, who have each contributed $50 million, and the European Union who is investing €140 million. The UK Government has already invested £65 million for research into vaccines for infectious diseases and this month, announced a further £46 million for research specifically into coronavirus. This will include developing vaccines and new ways for people to be diagnosed when they arrive at our hospitals and GP surgeries.
What’s happening across the world?
Research happening across the world is being coordinated, so that the expertise of scientists everywhere can be used to find treatments quicker.
All research funders have agreed to coordinate their work in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Research and Development roadmap. WHO is an organisation that works worldwide to increase access to healthcare, manage responses to outbreaks and emergencies and advise governments on improved health policies.
WHO’s ‘roadmap’ is a plan for how researchers across the world can work together to find solutions quicker. The roadmap was published earlier this month, following a meeting with 400 of the world’s scientific experts in February. At this meeting, the scientists set out:
What we currently know about the new virus
The priority research questions that need to be answered
Ways to work together to fund this research, so we can halt this outbreak and prepare for future outbreaks.
Coordinating research in this way is vital because it means the skills of different groups around the world, from molecular biologists, virologists, immunologists and epidemiologists to clinicians, pharmacologists and network scientists, can all be used, and we can get the evidence that will save lives as quickly as possible.
Imagine a world with no asthma helpline, no research and where asthma has no voice.
As a charity, Asthma UK provides free health advice to millions, we fight for the rights of people with asthma in the corridors of power and we fund ground-breaking research.
COVID-19 has devastated our ability to raise vital funds, so if you've benefited from our free health advice, think asthma needs a voice or believe in asthma research, we need your support now more than ever.
To show how much you care about people with asthma, if you can please make a small donation today. Your support now will be an investment for improving the future for everyone with asthma in the UK.