Priority is given to innovative proposals designed to stimulate increased quality, visibility or availability of research at a national, regional or international level, including:

epidemiological studies focusing on specific health problems, e.g. identification of risk factors of diseases, sociobehavioural studies such as knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) studies and ecological studies such as geographic information system (GIS) studies

integrated research in communicable diseases, vector control studies, control of reservoirs of disease in collaboration with veterinary personnel (zoonotic diseases) and surveillance of communicable diseases

evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic services and their conformity to recent guidelines, and predictors of diagnostic delay and incomplete cure

social and economic determinants of medicine availability and use, and inequalities of access to proven therapies

research on innovative methods for promoting participation of the private health sector in different activities of prevention and control

evaluation of new diagnostic tools applicable in field conditions

health economics studies evaluating different strategies of disease prevention and control

research on the quality of information systems for communicable diseases, evaluation of the reliability of collected data, identification of determinants of inadequate information and intervention studies for improvement of the quality of information recorded and delivered by health facilities/ministries of health concerning communicable diseases.