Uncategorized
Using GPS Logging Devices to track water contact of schistosomiasis at risk-groups in Barombi Kotto, Cameroon
COUNTDOWN is investigating best ways to expand interventions to ensure all those vulnerable to schistosomiasis have access to Praziquantel treatment. In so doing, these efforts will require governments, researchers and health stakeholders to gather evidence and, where the need arises, revise existing strategies of control to address these needs. In Cameroon for example, the government…
Read More
Let’s Move the Agenda from Control to Elimination of NTDs
Who has the perfect answer to controlling or eliminating a disease? It gets more difficult when simply using medication does not guarantee no re-infection. In the case of Schistosomiasis and Soil-transmitted Helminthiasis, in the agenda of elimination one wonders if what we need are more parasitologists in the affected areas or getting the current ones…
Read More
Going with the Flow: Local Learning about Rivers to Implement Ground Larviciding for Community-based Control of River Blindness
By Prof Samuel Wanji, Dr Peter Enyong, Andrew Amuam, Relindis Ekanya, Dr Louise Hamill, Dr Joe Turner Preparations are proceeding at pace to control the local blackfly population in the South West Region of Cameroon. This is part of an integrated control strategy against river blindness implemented by the COUNTDOWN consortium, in partnership with the University…
Read More
Tackling the Lack of Uniformity in Schistosomiasis Transmission
Schistosomiasis or Bilharzia or snail fever as some call it remains one of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that is ravaging many poor people around the world. They thrive in areas with poor sanitation, often inhabited by those with limited to no access to health care. It can cause liver damage or sterility in…
Read More
China and Africa Join Forces in Fight to Eliminate Schistosomiasis
In the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), it has become obvious that learning from other countries’ successes will help many others to control and eliminate these diseases. This is how the China-Africa meeting and collaboration came about in 2012. Whilst on a visit to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, we caught up with…
Read More
Multidisciplinary research at the foothills of a live volcano
Sally Theobald, COUNTDOWN consortium Mount Cameroon, a live volcano, and the highest mountain, in west and central Africa was the site of our COUNTDOWN Cameroon planning meeting. Looking out to sea emerges another Volcano: Bioko, the island capital of neighbouring Equatorial Guinea. My inner geographer was enthralled. Prof Wanji, our host, and himself a strong…
Read More
NTDs Training for Journalists: Increasing media coverage for better advocacy on NTDs control
In Cameroon, there continues to be a gap in media coverage as high focus is given to the big three – AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria while low visibility still lingers around neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) albeit the eminent burden caused by these diseases collectively. There has been an outburst of activity to try and reverse…
Read More
Evaluating the level of transmission of schistosomiasis and the efficacy of praziquantel treatment
A 10-person team from the Centre for Schistosomiasis and Parasitology and University of Yaoundé I, travelled to the city of Edea, in the Littoral region from 24th-27th May 2016 to conduct an evaluation study. National Deworming campaigns for school aged children take place annually in all regions of Cameroon under the guidance of the National Programme…
Read More
COUNTDOWN Annual Meeting: Looking at progress made thus far
On Wednesday, 20th April 2016 all partners from the COUNTDOWN consortium gathered in Ghana for a 3-day meeting to discuss progress made thus far since the inception year of the implementation research programme. This 3-day annual review meeting got off to a good start with the opening meeting, which was attended by key officials including the NTD Ambassador in…
Read More
COUNTDOWN Project launches in Cameroon
COUNTDOWN is a multidisciplinary research programme made of researchers, policy makers, practitioners and Implementation Research specialists from the UK, USA and Africa, who have come together with the ultimate goal of generating knowledge and sustainable solutions necessary in controlling and eliminating 5 of the 17 Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) listed by the World Health Organisation.…
Read More