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FIND/IOM sign agreement of collaboration
Press release18 January 2008 FIND and IOM sign agreement of collaboration to improve TB detection among migrant populations
The MOU was signed jointly by Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, FIND Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Jacqueline Weekers, IOM Acting Director of the Migration Health Department. Established in 1951, IOM, whose headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. Migration health is one of the organization’s major activities, which also include the promotion of international migration law, policy debate and guidance, protection of migrant’s rights, and the gender dimension of migration. One of the principal services provided by IOM’s Migration Health Department is Health Assessments (HA), conducted at the request of receiving countries for newcomers. In 2006, IOM provided HA to more than 120,000 migrants in 46 countries, with TB as the main focus of these health programs. As a leading public-private partnership in the area of diagnostics, FIND’s main objective is to adapt the most sophisticated technologies to the needs of underprivileged people in developing countries to better fight poverty-related diseases. FIND also serves as a bridge between the developed and the developing world by leveraging the strengths of various partners in the private and public health sectors. Currently, FIND’s disease portfolio includes tuberculosis, human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, and malaria.
Today, liquid culture and DST are the standard for diagnosing TB and MDR TB and rapid molecular testing for the resistant form of the disease is increasingly being used. However, these technologies are not yet used for screening refugees and immigrant populations. Through this new collaboration, FIND and IOM also plan to assess the cost of these tests in refugee and migrant populations in different resource limited settings. IOM Acting Director of the Migration Health Department, Jacqueline Weekers, stated that in today`s world of globalization, the volume and complexity of population movement is increasing. “IOM welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with FIND in implementing rapid diagnostic tools for enhanced detection of TB among migrants and refugees especially where drug resistance or co-infection with HIV is a concern.” “We are looking forward to this collaboration with the International Organization for Migration who assists refugees and migrants in various countries around the world,” said FIND CEO, Dr. Giorgio Roscigno. “Enabling these populations to also benefit from better diagnostic tests should significantly contribute to improved screening and timely diagnosis of diseases such as TB and MDR-TB to ensure appropriate health care." For more information on IOM’s health activities, visit: www.iom.int/health FIND © Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics 2008. Click here to see the copyright notice |
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