Advocacy for African trypanosomiasis
Numerous advocacy activities include Stakeholders' workshops like the one that took place on 12-14 May 2008 in Addis Ababa
FIND and the African Union Commission (AUC) have been implementing advocacy activities through the Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) office of the AUC. The projects that are being supported through this initiative focus on:
- encouraging governments of endemic countries to prioritize African trypanosomiasis surveillance and control by ensuring adequate budgetary allocation;
- creating the environment necessary for sustainable introduction of new diagnostic tests in the public sectors of endemic countries;
- increasing community awareness of the disease, and
- strengthening the capacity of endemic countries to undertake disease and vector mapping, and data management.
Endemic countries have used the Strategic Plan on Advocacy that was launched in May 2008 to develop and implement their own work plans. This was preceded by induction and project initiation workshops held between September 2008 and January 2009. Thirteen endemic countries had initiated activities by October 2009.
A programme of strengthening the capacity of endemic countries to manage mapping information on the distribution of African trypanosomiasis and develop access strategies for diagnostics has been initiated. The programme involves up-grading of GIS hardware and software, training of staff, and field collection of GIS data. Activities have been initiated in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
A dynamic database on African trypanosomiasis has been developed, and the PATTEC office strengthened to manage it, through the appointment of a resource centre manager who has expertise in GIS and desk-top publishing. A technical advisory group (TAG), comprising experts in diverse fields of trypanosomiasis, has contributed significantly to implementation of the project. The TAG reviews reports and proposals, and provides advice and input to the Project Management Team on all scientific issues. In 2009, advocacy activities were intensified, the dynamic database on African trypanosomiasis was made operational, and the capacity strengthening activities on mapping and data management increased.
Photo of contacts for Advocacy on African trypanosomiasis taken during an induction workshop in September 2008 |
Group photo of TAG members taken at the time of their meeting in Kinshasa, DRC in July 2009 |
| Strategic Plan on Advocacy for African Trypanosomiasis (Download pdf) |
| Plan stratégique du Plaidoyer pour la Trypanosomiase Africaine (Download pdf) |
| Collaboration between FIND and the African Union Commission (Press release) |
Important links
- Workshops on capacity strengthening for African trypanosomiasis mapping and data management in Uganda and Tanzania
7 - 11 September 2009
- African Union Commission launches PATTEC postage stamps to promote the campaign on eradication of tsetse and trypanosomiasis
AUC press release, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 21 July 2009
- Workshop on the finalization of work plans for the promotion and initiation of PATTEC activities
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 19-20 January 2009
- Experts discuss advocacy plan on human African trypanosomiasis
Extract from AUC newsletter, Issue 30 May 2008
- Comparing Models for Early Warning Systems of Neglected Tropical Diseases
Background: Early warning systems (EWS) are management tools to predict the occurrence of epidemics of infectious diseases. While climate-based EWS have been developed for malaria, no standard protocol to evaluate and compare EWS has been proposed. Additionally, there are several neglected tropical diseases whose transmission is sensitive to environmental conditions, for which no EWS have been proposed, though they represent a large burden for the affected populations.
- Neglected Diseases in the News: A Content Analysis of Recent International Media Coverage Focussing on Leishmaniasis and Trypanosomiasis
Background: Although the pharmaceutical industry’s ‘‘neglect’’ of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has been investigated, no study evaluating media coverage of NTDs has been published. Poor media coverage exacerbates the neglect. This study aimed to investigate, describe, and analyse international media coverage of ‘‘neglected diseases’’ in general and three specific NTDs—African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease—from 1 January 2003 to 1 June 2007.
Other information
Sarah Obama & Solomon Haile Mariam, FIND Advocacy Officer for HAT
- President Barack Obama’s grandmother to lead tsetse eradication activities in her village (Press release)
- Sarah Obama picked to lead tsetse fly fight by George Olwenya (Download pdf)