Health Research Program (HaRP)

The United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition's (HIDN) approach to research and the translation/introduction of research into use is the Health Research Program (HaRP). Through its collaborating partners, HaRP identifies the challenges for child health in developing countries and countries in transition, and designs the most effective approach to overcome them. These challenges range from infectious diseases to malnutrition to improper disease management by health workers.

For example, did you know that:

• 2 million children under five die annually from pneumonia in developing countries
• Another 2.2 million children under five die each year due to diarrheal disease
• Approximately 515,000 women in the world die each year from maternal health causes

To promote child health and reduce childhood mortality and morbidity, HaRP conducts extensive applied research in eight targeted areas:

• Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI)
• Diarrheal Diseases
• Infant and Neonatal Health
• Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
• Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)
• Maternal Health
• Nutrition and Micronutrients
• Other Areas, such as HIV/AIDS

Building on the successes and findings from USAID's Child Health Research Project (CHR), 1996-2003, HaRP was established in 2003. Its research activities fall under two cooperative agreements, Country Research Activity (CRA) and Global Research Activity (GRA). These two research activities reflect a newly developed health research framework.

For more information, visit the HaRP website.