COUNTDOWN Partners from Cameroon are holding the ‘Cameroon Schistosomiasis & STH Week’ from the 10th – 14th June 2019. The 5-day event which aims to celebrate key outcomes from the COUNTDOWN research, is equally focused on a national agenda - to discuss the progress, challenges and strategies to move towards the elimination of schistosomiasis (SCH) and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) in Cameroon.
It will take place in the capital city of Yaoundé, during which key documents will be launched. These documents include: The Atlas of SCH transmission, The Atlas of STH transmission, The Progress Report 2003-2018 and, The SCH/STH Strategic Plan 2020-2030. They contain innovative approaches to tackling schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis control and elimination which can be applied in various contexts.
For the past 4yrs, the COUNTDOWN Cameroon Partners have conducted multi-disciplinary research on expanded access treatment against schistosomiasis in the Centre, Littoral and South West Regions. The main aim was to find solutions backed by evidence on how to cost-effectively upscale Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) programmes. The Cameroon team’s research under the leadership of Professor Louis Albert Tchuem Tchuenté, has already been informing policy & NTDs operational guidelines at the national and international levels; stimulating and driving discussions in the NTDs space.
Professor Tchuem Tchuenté, the COUNTDOWN Country Director is the National Coordinator for SCH & STH in Cameroon, and the head of the Centre for Schistosomiasis and Parasitology. On the key objective for organising this week, he said: “The main objective of the Schistosomiasis and STH Week is to provide a platform for the dissemination and discussion of control achievements and research findings. We hope to define new strategies in line with the exciting paradigm shift towards the elimination of these diseases”.
The event will gather all stakeholders such as health practitioners, education and scientific experts, donors, policymakers, non-governmental development organisations, students and community members. There will be a second conference on ‘Towards Elimination of Schistosomiasis: A Paradigm Shift’, following the first successful conference held in March 2017, where these key recommendations on tackling schistosomiasis were presented.
The programme has earmarked interesting activities for the week such as a scientific conference for results dissemination and discussion, a training workshop for journalists to develop capacity and increase knowledge on NTDs and holding of the 9th Statutory Meeting of the National Committee for the Control of Schistosomiasis and Intestinal Helminthiasis in Cameroon.
For more information on the event, please download the programme outline.
Also follow us on our Twitter accounts @CountdownNTDCam and @NTDCOUNTDOWN for live updates. The event hashtag is #CameroonNTDs.