EMERGENCY LIFE SUPPORT FOR CIVILIAN WAR VICTIMS ONG ONLUS

Their core work

EMERGENCY ONG ONLUS is an Italian humanitarian NGO that provides medical and surgical care to civilian victims of war and poverty, primarily in conflict zones and underserved regions. Within H2020, they serve as a critical field-testing partner for rapid diagnostic tools targeting viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF), including Ebola. Their value lies in providing real-world clinical environments in resource-limited settings where diagnostic devices must actually work — bridging the gap between laboratory development and frontline deployment. They bring direct access to patient populations and field conditions that no university lab can replicate.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

EMERGENCY's H2020 involvement began in 2015 with two concurrent Ebola diagnostics projects (FILODIAG and EbolaMoDRAD), directly responding to the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola crisis. By 2019, their focus broadened from Ebola-specific tools to a wider scope of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFMoDRAD), adding multiplex detection, capacity building, and twinning components. This shift reflects a move from crisis-response diagnostics toward sustainable outbreak preparedness infrastructure.

Moving from single-pathogen emergency response toward broader epidemic preparedness with local capacity strengthening — relevant for any consortium working on outbreak readiness in low-resource settings.

How they like to work

EMERGENCY consistently participates as a partner rather than a coordinator, which fits their role as a field-testing organization embedded in healthcare delivery. With 25 unique partners across 11 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in large, international consortia typical of IMI2 public-private partnerships. Their value to consortia is specific and hard to replace: they provide the real-world deployment environment that validates whether a diagnostic tool works outside the lab.

Despite only 3 projects, EMERGENCY has built connections with 25 partners across 11 countries, reflecting the large consortium structure of IMI2 initiatives. Their network spans European diagnostic developers, African health institutions, and global pharmaceutical partners.

What sets them apart

EMERGENCY is not a research organization — it is a frontline humanitarian medical NGO that happens to be an invaluable R&D partner. They offer something almost no other consortium member can: direct access to clinical settings in conflict and outbreak zones where diagnostics face their hardest test. For any team developing point-of-care tools for infectious diseases in low-resource environments, EMERGENCY provides the ultimate real-world validation ground.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EbolaMoDRAD
  Largest funding (EUR 200,078) and focused on developing bedside rapid diagnostics for Ebola during the immediate aftermath of the West Africa outbreak.
• VHFMoDRAD
  Represents the evolution from Ebola-only to multiplex VHF detection, with added capacity building and twinning components for sustainable outbreak preparedness.