The Central Africa Network on Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria (CANTAM) was created in 2009 with the major aim to build capacity in seven institutions in the three countries Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo (RoC) for the conduct of clinical trials. The strategy for achieving this goal was to select institutions with the lowest capacities to conduct clinical research in Cameroon and RoC and to drive them to a higher level through participation in multicentre clinical research involving the highly experienced center in Gabon. Thus, during the past 5 years, baseline data on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria have been collected. A dynamic training platform for academic and non-academic training has been developed involving regional partners like WHO/AFRO, UNICEF, Ministries of Public Health and Ministries of Science and Technology.

In the second phase of the programme, we propose to expand the CANTAM network by including new partner sites and countries in order to increase the critical mass of researchers and to acquire expertise (such as pharmacovigilance activities) that is still lacking in the region.

During the next 5 years CANTAM will consolidate the achievements of the first period and aims at filling specific identified gaps in tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria and co-morbidities in Central Africa by involving more countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo and collaboration with Zambia), more institutions in Gabon and RoC and more European partners (United Kingdom, The Netherlands) and by conducting innovative interventions.