World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day 2024 celebrated in Gabon

The Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL) in Gabon and the Bernard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Germany, two key partners of the eWHORM project, celebrated the World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day on January 30 2024 in Libreville, Gabon, along with other major scientific and policy external stakeholders.

The event, attended by close to 100 participants on site, aimed to share experiences in the fight against NTDs with all stakeholders, strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders in the field of NTDs and spread the word on NTDs research.

eWHORM has since the start of the project, aimed at strengthening the collaboration among its consortium partners, fostering awareness of NTDs, and establishing a sound human resource capacity-building program. The presence of BNITM and CERMEL’s key representatives of the eWHORM project was a strong asset for addressing the obstacles remaining in the fight against NTDs. For instance, the importance of awareness of the civil and scientific society in tackling these obstacles was discussed extensively, as it is a significant objective of BNITM’s work for eWHORM.

The different diseases studied by the eWHORM partners have also been the subject of comprehensive presentations: Loaose was presented at length through the work of Prof. Michael Ramharter from BNITM with respect to the epidemiology and morbidity of Loa loa infection in Gabon, while Rella Zoleko Manego from CERMEL discussed the clinical management of Loa loa filariasis.

The event not only helped in consolidating the general agreement on continuing the fight against NTDs but also brought crucial recommendations to policymakers and researchers in order to maintain the mobilisation of all actors regarding this year’s motto: “Unite. Act. Eliminate.” A sum-up of this day can be found in this video (in French) as well as the pictures below depicting the meeting.