Tag Archives: field research

What’s the Matter with the Water?

By: Amanda Miller

Many of us don’t think about infectious tropical diseases in the United States or Europe – but it was less than a couple hundred years ago that a cholera epidemic spread throughout Europe.  One outbreak in September 1854 killed over 500 people in just ten days.   A search for the cause and cure was unsuccessful.

Photo taken from http://johnsnow.matrix.msu.edu/

Dr. John Snow then developed a theory of cholera transmission that was contradictory to other accepted beliefs – transmission of cholera was due to drinking water contamination.  He mapped cholera cases and found that they had taken place near the infamous Broad Street pump.  By providing one of the earliest examples of epidemiological research, Dr. Snow made one of the first known connections between water and disease.

It makes perfect sense to us these days that you can get very sick from contaminated water.  It’s the first thing people say when traveling to other countries – “don’t drink the water.”  Yet think of a world just a couple hundred years ago where we didn’t quite understand why people were getting sick.

So what’s the big deal?  And what does it have to do with NTDs?

Well, we have the ability to think about NTDs through many different lenses.  One is through treatment and reducing prevalence.  Another is routine preventative chemotherapy through mass drug administration.   And yet another is through long-term solutions like water and sanitation.  But is one good without the other?

Photo taken by author

We know that poor sanitation and contaminated water contributes to the transmission of NTDs.  Of the seven most common NTDs, the transmission of six is directly related to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and insufficient hygiene.

This is why water, sanitation, or hygiene (WASH) becomes a key factor in NTD initiatives.  Of course, long-term solutions are expensive and complicated.  Behavior change is slow, and infrastructure building is even slower.  But since we found out 200 years ago that water is inextricably linked to many infectious diseases in developing countries, isn’t it time we focused on the root cause?  It all points towards clean water and sanitation.

If Dr. Snow hadn’t pulled the handle off of the Broad Street pump in the middle of a cholera epidemic, how many more people would have died before we figured out what to do?

Amanda Miller is the Asia Program Officer for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases. Amanda has public health experience in Rwanda and Botswana, and in her free time enjoys knitting.

Pilot Case Study: Do Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) Improve access to pharmaceuticals in Uganda?

Check out this interesting recent pilot study from the Initiative for Public-Private Partnerships for Health, a research initiative out of the Global Forum for Health Research, whose goal is to improve public-private collaborations for health.

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) funded the Initiative on Public-Private Partnerships for Health (IPPPH)1 to conduct a pilot study in Uganda to assess the health and health systems impact of public-private partnerships (PPPs) for improving access to pharmaceuticals in relation to leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, sleeping sickness, and HIV/AIDS. The specific remit was to examine issues of ownership, integration, coordination, implementation and impact, with a particular focus on the unique strengths and problems of these access PPPs as distinct from other comparable programs where drugs are competitively procured. Fieldwork visits were made to five districts in Uganda –Hoima, Kampala, Katakwi, Masaka and Soroti – selected on the basis of active implementation of the PPP programs […]

Read the full pilot study here.

Spotlight: Fundación Mundo Sano

FundaciónMundo Sano, established in 1993, is an Argentine non-profit organization that has been engaged in research and strategic development to circumvent the spread of neglected diseases.  Fundación Mundo Sano develops scientific research and direct intervention programs—such as information, prevention, and entomologic control campaigns— within its five headquarters located in the most vulnerable locations of Argentina’s endemic regions.

A multidisciplinary group of professionals –biologists, physicians, anthropologists, and economists among others— have created, managed, and implemented more than  40 projects that work towards comprehending and eliminating tropical diseases like chagas, dengue, leishmaniasis, malaria, several types of intestinal parasite infections, and leptospirosis.

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Turning Point: The Fight Against NTDs in Argentina

Terra, a major news source in Argentina, wrote an article highlighting the growing relationship between the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases and La Fundación Mundo Sano.  The inauguration of the National Institute for Tropical Medicine (INMeT) marks “a new era in quest of solutions to diseases affecting the impoverished provinces in North Argentina.”

The Global Network, the advocacy arm of Sabin Vaccine Institute, has collaborated with INMeT since its inception, working with Latin American governments to strengthen their response to include neglected disease programming in their public policies.

The joint partnership between La Fundación Mundo Sano and Global Network has been running for more than a year. Our efforts are concentrated in Oran, Salta Province, where massive intervention within the community is being carried out in order to fight strongyloides stercoralis, also known as threadworm, a human parasitic roundworm.

Silvia Gold,  La Fundación Mundo Sano’s President, highlighted the fact that Argentina is undergoing a turning point in terms of the fight against tropical diseases.

“For many years we have been trying to build up on knowledge development that can help public policy decision makers eradicate these diseases. We believe that we are contributing to that, and feel that the INMeT creation is a dream come true”

Additionally, Dr. Neeraj Minstry, Managing Director of  the Global Network, was recently spotlighted in La Nacion, a big newspaper source in Argentina. Read about that article here! Also, check out the spotlight on our collaborative relationship with La Fundación Mundo Sano here!

Read the Spanish text of the Terra news article here!