Since 2022, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) has been engaged in a partnership with the Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL) in Gabon. This sees the two partners working to improve the management of tropical diseases. In the LoaCare project, the partners also pursue the common goal of improving health care provision in rural Gabon. Joint research and technical dialogue between staff members promote North-South cooperation. At the same time, South-South cooperation is being further expanded between CERMEL and the African partners of BNITM, especially Nigeria and Ghana.
Context:
Loiasis is one of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). It is a chronic infectious disease, primarily affecting poorer population groups in rural areas of Central and West Africa. Gabon has the highest prevalence of the disease worldwide. Loiasis is caused by the African eye worm Loa loa. Over 10 million people in Gabon are infected and some 30 million are exposed to the risk of infection. Many high-risk communities are located in remote regions. Up to 80% of the adult population is infected with Loa loa in high-transmission regions. It was previously assumed that loiasis was fairly benign in its progression, which is why the disease was not paid adequate attention in hospital care or in the official health programme. The project objective is thus to develop expertise and structures to improve loiasis management in rural Gabon.
Activities:
- Training health staff in state-of-the art loiasis management
- Establishing specialist clinical facilities for treating loiasis at CERMEL in Lambaréné and its rural Sentinel location in Sindara
- Improving diagnostics
- Evaluating national guidelines on treating parasitic diseases and improving patient management
-\tDrafting national recommendations
Results:
The partnership gives rise to long-term sharing of knowledge on loiasis management and on research topics. With CERMEL playing a key role in Gabon’s health system, particularly when it comes to training health professionals, there are plans to scale up the programme to other regions of the country. The project’s train-the-trainer approach will ensure that knowledge is shared on an ongoing basis.