SCI Contribution to ICOPA XIThe 11th Annual Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA XI) was held in Glasgow from the 6th - 11th of August 2006 and was hosted by the British Society for Parasitology. In total, over 2000 parasitologists attended including 300 invited speakers. Several SCI staff and partners attended the congress and many gave presentations and/or posters throughout the week. Professor Alan Fenwick presented 'The pharmaceutical industry contributions to better health in Africa' at the Parasites and Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals session. At the Bill and Melinda Gates Symposium: Schistosomiasis and Hookworm Vaccine session SCI staff and partners presented; Professor Alan Fenwick introduced the SCI with 'Development of National Control Strategies in Africa against schistosomiasis and intestinal helminths, and integration with other control programmes;' Dr. Narcis Kabatereine, Uganda's national schistosomiasis control programme coordinator, presented 'Uganda: strategy, health impact and the way forward;' and Dr. Amadou Garba, Niger's national schistosomiasis control programme coordinator, presented 'Implementation of national schistosomiasis control programmes in West Africa’; Finally Ms. Artemis Koukounari, bio-statistician at SCI, presented 'Data analysis within SCI.' Other SCI related presentations in other sessions included: Session: Control of Schistosomiasis Speaker: Dr. Robert Dembelé (national coordinator of Mali's schistosomiasis control programme) - ‘Evaluation of Mali's Schistosomiasis and intestinal helminth control programme: A satisfaction barometer’ Speaker: Dr. Seydou Touré (national coordinator of Burkina Faso’s schistosomiasis control programme) - ‘The current status of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths in Burkina Faso’ Speaker: Dr. James Mwansa (national coordinator of Zambia’s schistosomiasis control programme) - ‘Baseline status of schistosomiasis and intestinal helminths in Zambia’ Speaker: Dr. Nicholas Lwambo (senior researcher at NIMRI in Tanzania) - ‘The impact of chemotherapy on schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections in Tanzania’ Poster Session:
Dr. Adama Keita (senior ultrasonographer, Hôpital National du Point G Bamako, Mali - pictured right) gave a poster on ‘The use of ultrasonography in adolescents and adults in detecting lesions in mixed S.haematobium and S.mansoni endemic areas of the Segou region of Mali’ As the SCI staff and partners rarely have the opportunity to come together as a whole, SCI hosted a workshop in London on the 2nd and 3rd of August. SCI staff and partners were therefore able to have in-depth discussion about programme work and SCI objectives. Both the SCI workshop and the congress week included happy reunions and continuous networking opportunities with other disease control programmes for all SCI staff and partners. ICOPA XI was an extremely successful congress and all those who attended benefited from the new research presented, the presentations on disease control programmes, and the discussions about integration of the neglected tropical diseases. The next ICOPA is planned for 2010 and will be held in Melbourne, Australia. |
Dr. Zilahatou Tohon (senior researcher at CERMES in Niger) gave a poster
on ‘The impact of a praziquantel single dose treatment on the morbidity
due to S.haematobium in school children in Niger’