REACH · REACH: Russian European Alliance for research among women, Children and adolescents impacted by HIV, TB and HCV

Pregnant women, children and adolescents are priority populations in the global public health response to the epidemics of HIV, TB and HCV.The high burden of intersecting epidemics of these 3 infections pose a major public health challenge to Russia and the broader European region. The global health goals of ending AIDS, reducingTB deaths and new HCV cases by 90% by 2030 can only be realized if the unique health needs are considered and targeted research to these priority populations is undertaken to optimise the impact of innovations in diagnostics and treatment. REACH builds on long-standing, successful collaboration between European clinical research networks with track records of delivering innovative research across the three infections with leading collaborators from 7 centres of excellence in Siberian, Northwestern and Central districts of the Russian Federation. The goals of REACH are: 1)To conduct joint research to better understand the epidemiology, disease progression, treatment and outcomes of HIV, TB and HCV mono and co-infections among pregnant women, children and adolescents in the RF: 2)To exchange knowledge, build capacity and prepare for future collaborative research on HIV, HCV and TB in children, adolescents and pregnant women in the RF, including women and young people. REACH will fill the knowledge and data gaps on HIV epidemic affecting children, adolescents and pregnant women across Russia and provide new data on long-term ART toxicity, HIV resistance, HCV and TB coinfections and comorbidities in this setting. It will develop future studies of new diagnostics and preventive TB treatment and the use of novel therapies for HCV in children in real-world settings. REACH will promote geographic expansion of the collaborative research in maternal and child health in Europe with a broad and long-lasting impact. It will also build capacity for improved coordination and integration between European and Russian research centres beyond 2020