SCI News During 2005
December
Following
Niger’s first successful mass treatment campaign in the Niger River Valley
in December 2004, the ‘Programme National de Lutte contre la Bilharziose et
les Géohelminths’ (PNLBG) has again organised a successful treatment
campaign.
The campaign is expected to reach 5 million school-age children in the
areas with the highest burden of disease
The year 2005 in Uganda has seen the third round of mass
drug administration take place in the original 18 districts and expansion
to an additional 9 districts.
October
Burkina Faso
Drug Distribution Campaign Reaches Entire Target Population
This year’s mass treatment campaign targeted 36 health
districts constituting a population of 2,543,918 school-aged children.
Burkina Faso is therefore the first of the 3 West African countries,
supported by the SCI, to reach their entire target population.
The SCI Advisory Board met on Friday
October 14th 2005, to review the programmatic achievements of
SCI during the last year through September 30th 2005
July
On Saturday 2nd July 2005, the National Schistosomiasis and Soil
Transmitted Helminth Control Programme in Tanzania Mainland was launched
at Chadulu primary school in Dodoma Municipal, about 450 km from Dar es
Salaam.
June
On Tuesday 21st June 2005, the national Zambian Bilharzia Control
Programme, a component of the School Health and Nutrition Programme, was
launched at Mpango Basic school near Siavonga, a town on Lake Kariba about
200 km from Lusaka in Southern Province.
May
The launch of the treatment campaign against schistosomiasis and STH in
Mopti region was held on 18 May 2005 at the Groupe Scolaire
Robert Cissé at Mopti.
SCI staff and 20 invited delegates, representing 8 African countries,
attended a 4-day proposal development workshop to discuss future research
questions associated with the control of schistosomiasis.
April
On April 25, 2005 the Honourable Ari Ibrahim, Niger’s Minister of
Health, launched the Tahoua and Maradi Regional treatment campaign.
The national schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminth control
programme of Niger (PNLBG) has embarked on a prevalence mapping survey in
districts not previously covered by the 2004 treatment campaign.
First Treatment Campaign in
Mali (January – April 2005)
The treatment campaign against schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted
helminths has now started in Mali, and the target is to treat more than 2
million children and adults by mid 2005.
March
Uganda: 24-month Follow-up Survey Following the Second Round of Deworming Treatment
in Busia & Bugiri
The
SCI-VCD team spent two weeks in the districts and visited 10 primary schools
and 3 communities. About 1200 school children and 300 community adults were
examined for their Bilharzia (schistosome) infection and other intestinal
helminth infections
Relocation of the SCI Schistosomiasis
Research Programme (SRP) from Harvard Center for Population and
Development Studies (HCPDS) to Danish Bilharzia Laboratory - Institute for
Health Research and Development
As from March 1st 2005, the management of
the Schistosomiasis Research Programme will be the responsibility of the
DBL - Institute for Health Research and Development (www.dblnet.dk).
February
Ultrasound Training
Workshop in Mwanza, Tanzania February 8th-18th 2005
SCI sponsored a portable ultrasound training workshop in collaboration
with the National Institute of Medical Research, Tanzania on the
assessment of morbidity due to S. mansoni and S. haematobium.
January
Opening of New Helminth
Control Laboratory, Unguja, Zanzibar
The opening of the Helminth Control Laboratory on Zanzibar took place
on Saturday 8th January 2005. The building is a major milestone in the
“Kick out Kichocho” campaign, a collaboration between the London Natural
History Museum, SCI, and the Ministry of Health, Zanzibar.
Documentary film on
schistosomiasis shown on BBC World
SCI Advocacy and Training Interactive Guide
- CD Rom
Developed and produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust., the
CD delivers programme-oriented advocacy messages and training materials to
Ministry of Health staff, programme managers, district health officers,
and personnel responsible for implementing practical elements of the
programme.
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