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The 2nd Podoconiosis Conference
The 2nd Podoconiosis Conference was held under the auspices of the International Conference on Neglected Tropical Diseases (InCORNTD) in Kigali, Rwanda. Under the theme "From Neglect to Elimination with Country Ownership," over 100 delegates from 14 countries convened. Participants included individuals affected by podoconiosis, researchers, implementers, people with lived experience and policymakers, all united in the shared goal of eliminating this neglected tropical disease (NTD). The conference aligned with the WHO NTD Roadmap, emphasizing the critical role of country ownership in driving progress towards elimination.
The 2nd Podoconiosis Conference was a resounding success, achieving high levels of attendee satisfaction. Participants expressed positive feedback regarding the informative research and implementation sessions, noting the clear objectives, appropriate duration, and balanced content. The panel discussion, focused on advocating for WHO recognition of podoconiosis and developing community-based strategies, was particularly well-received. Networking opportunities were also highly valued by attendees. Continue reading...
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The German Center for Infection Research in focus
What makes the German Center for Infection Research so special? More than 700 people work at the DZIF with the common goal of translating basic research into clinical practice. The well-being of the patient is our primary focus. For more insights, please watch our DZIF movie
Photo: Dr. Christoph Hoffmann MdB, Deputy Chairman of the AWZ and Prof. Achim Hörauf
DNTDs in the German Parliament - Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development
Berlin, 06.11.2024 - The German Network against Neglected Tropical Diseases (DNTDs) was invited to speak to the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Bundestag about strategies to combat neglected tropical diseases and their financing. Prof. Dr. Achim Hörauf, Director IMMIP, gave an outline of the status quo and presented recommendations for action as an expert and spokesperson for the DNTDs. In particular, he addressed the strengthening and further development of NTD programs, the integration of NTD programs into other sectors, the improvement of access to drugs, the continuation of the promotion of drug development against NTDs and the promotion of innovative financing approaches for incentive systems for drug development and marketing of NTD programs. Continue reading
Clinical Trials to Assess Effectiveness of Treatment Guidelines for Lymphedema Induced by Lymphatic Filariasis
The LeDoxy trials have published their joint study on Lymphedema management using hygiene measures and doxycycline administration. The multi-centre, multi-country clinical trial, was conducted in 5 country, Ghana, Tanzania, Mali, Sri Lanka and India. The trials were a collaborative effort between COR-NTD (TaskForce for Global Health, Atlanta, USA) and IMMIP (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, The German Center for Infection Research, Bonn-Cologne site, Germany). Trials in Ghana and Tanzania were funded by The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Neglected Tropical Diseases Program through their support of the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD) grant (AID-OAA-G-14-00008), funded those conducted in Mali, Sri Lanka and India. IMMIP’s institute director Prof. Achim Hoerauf is the co-coordinator of the TAKeOFF consortium and Dr. Ute Klarmann-Schulz the Bonn PI. Continue reading
Code for a Cure: Combating River Blindness with Data & AI
A team of experts at Capgemini, in collaboration with University Hospital Bonn and Amazon Web Services, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that will accelerate the speed of clinical trials aiming to establish new treatments for River Blindness, a neglected tropical disease which affects over 20 million people globally. Currently, the specialist work of clinical trials can only be carried out manually by a handful of global experts, so the winning model could save years of work and speed up the development of new treatments.Continue reading
International travel and NTDs
The world NTD day, 30th January, is an important day as it highlights diseases that are neglected, especially since those affected live in low-income countries. In marking the world NTD day, Prof. Achim Hoerauf, Director IMMIP and Speaker DNTDS, had an interview on NTDs. In his interview, he introduced NTD, their distribution as a whole and the global burden of the disease, where more than 1 billion people are affected. Prof. Hörauf also highlighted the impact of climate change on the increase in NTDs. Listen to the whole interview here…
The Search for New Treatment for River Blindness
The World Health Organization estimates that 1.15 million people have lost their vision due to river blindness, while 220 million require preventive therapy against onchocerciasis. For over 25 years, the Institute of Medical Microbiology Immunology and Parasitology, at the University Hospital Bonn and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, in Kumasi Ghana have been conduction clinical trials in river blindness and lymphatic filariasis... Continue reading
