News
2019 Annual Meeting of the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD)
Experts from USAID’s Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases | West program consortium will participate in the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD) at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on November 18—19, 2019. COR-NTD meeting aims to strengthen the community of NTD researchers, program implementers and their supporters to address knowledge gaps in a coordinated way, and to inform the agenda of future NTD research. Join the conversation online by using #COR_NTD19.
Act | West at ASTMH Annual Meeting 2019
The American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's (ASTMH) 68th Annual Meeting takes place at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland on November 20 - 24. The ASTMH Annual Meeting draws over 4,000 tropical medicine and global health professionals representing government, philanthropy, non-profits, NGOs, industry, and more. Join the online conversation by using #TropMed19!
STH Transition Planning Workshop Demonstrates Niger's Commitment to NTD Sustainability
The Government of Niger, with support from the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN), gathered neglected tropical disease (NTD) experts, cross-sector specialists from key ministries, and World Health Organization officials last week in Kollo to consolidate the results of a workshop on soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), commonly known as intestinal worms, held earlier this month.
Approaches to Monitoring Mass Drug Administration in Sierra Leone
At the heart of control and elimination programs to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) amenable to preventive chemotherapy is the successful implementation of annual mass drug administration (MDA), a large-scale effort to distribute safe and effective treatments to entire at-risk populations in an endemic area.
Senior Act | West Staff Join NNN Leadership
On September 19, 2019, the Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network (NNN) named FHI 360’s Dr. Kisito Ogoussan, Implementation Management Lead on USAID’s Act to End NTDs | West program (Act | West), as its new Vice Chair for 2019–2020. The announcement came at the 2019 annual meeting in Liverpool, UK, as the NNN celebrated its tenth year of NGO partnership and collaboration.
Spotlight on NTDs at 33rd African Union Summit in Niger
Excitement always runs high when it’s time for the African Union Summit, and this year, the 33rd African Union (AU) Summit in Niamey, Niger, held on July 4-8, 2019, was particularly important for the neglected tropical diseases (NTD) community.
TIPAC for Impact: Helping Countries Turn NTD Data into Powerful Messages for Program Sustainability
Despite recent successes in countries such as Togo and Ghana, which achieved World Health Organization validation of elimination of lymphatic filariasis (in Togo, 2017) and trachoma (in Ghana, 2018), neglected tropical disease (NTD) control and elimination remain largely absent from national health plans and budgets—and those of other sectors—in most West African nations. As national Neglected Tropical Disease Programs (NTDP) work toward achieving programmatic sustainability, one of the challenges they face is to convince national decision-makers to make domestic investment in NTD control a national priority.
Step by step, making strides to eliminate a disfiguring disease in Sierra Leone
In Sierra Leone, mosquitos are much more than a nuisance – they also transmit harmful diseases like lymphatic filariasis (LF). Read how in Sierra Leone we're making great strides to eliminate this disease as a public health threat.
Journey to N’Teklefe: Trachoma Mapping in Cote d’Ivoire
The drive to N’Teklefe in Cote d’Ivoire reminds me of my Peace Corps training in western Togo 18 years ago. The road is tinged pink from the bright red earth, and the distant green hills offer hints of thick, lush forests.
