In January 2020, all best laid plans for the new year were rewritten with critical urgency. COVID-19 had arrived on Australian shores and without any treatment or vaccine available, the only course of action in Australia and in many other countries was a Government enforced shutdown.
By mid-March, the RBWH Foundation Coronavirus Action Fund was launched, rapidly becoming the most critical fundraising campaign in RBWH Foundation’s 35-year history.
The key funding priorities of the Coronavirus Action Fund are:
- The Australasian COVID-19 Trials (ASCOT) investigating new COVID-19 treatments to reduce mortality or the need for mechanical ventilation in hospitalised, but not yet critically ill, patients with COVID-19.
- The Special COVID-19 grants analyzing unprecedented changes in the delivery of healthcare including the impact of life-support on COVID-19 drugs, long-term COVID-19 side-effects and the impact of telehealth/virtual care on patient care.
- Infectious diseases initiatives to improve the outcomes of patients with serious infections, leverage grant and philanthropic funding, and train the next generation of infectious diseases researchers.
As COVID-19 continues to restrict the Australian way of life, research remains as crucial as ever Donate today.
