For years, the world-renowned French photographer and environmental activist Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been providing his spectacular aerial photographs to FAIRMED free of charge. Recently, we finally had the opportunity to meet and get to know the 73-year-old personally, and to thank him for his confidence in us.
In genuine medical emergencies, a quick response is all-important. But there are many places in the world where ambulances cannot be at hand. For example, the remote villages of the Moboma community in the Central African Republic. For this reason, FAIRMED has established an emergency transport and treatment system that had been piloted in recent months.
A possible breakthrough in the fight against Chagas: A recent study has shown that an alternative approach to combating the neglected tropical disease may be associated with fewer side effects and a shorter treatment time.
Improving the health of pregnant women, mothers and infants is a crucial objective for the FAIRMED projects in Nepal. We pursue numerous activities in order to achieve this aim, including providing support for the establishment of mother groups. But do these monthly meetings actually help mothers in their everyday lives? One participant talks about her experiences.
Every year on 8 March, people around the world take part in International Women's Day, which strives towards equality between men and women. FAIRMED employee and ethnologist Johanna Vögeli experienced first hand how gender equality is a reality among the indigenous Aka people in the Central African Republic.
Cathérine A. Akom is the new FAIRMED Country Manager for Cameroon. With over ten years of experience at a strategic level in environmental and development programs, she brings a great deal of expertise to her role. Her goals are correspondingly ambitious.
Every year, the Network Uniting to Combat NTDs compiles an index that measures the success of 49 African countries in their efforts to combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). The index highlights a somewhat unusual trend: poorer countries such as Swaziland and Malawi are at the top of the rankings, while richer countries, including Botswana and South Africa, are stuck in the lower third.
With the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), the international community set itself the goal of controlling, eliminating or eradicating ten NTDs by 2020. The declaration was signed seven years ago by pharmaceutical corporations, states and NGOs. Accordingly, it is high time for some interim results.
In 2017, more money than ever before was invested in research and development for tackling poverty-related and neglected diseases. However, this figure of 3.6 billion US dollars is well below WHO recommendations, as evidenced by the latest report from the Policy Cures Research think tank.
Ending discrimination, stigma and prejudice is the theme of this year’s World Leprosy Day. A particular focus thereby is on the protection of children who suffer from leprosy, who according to the United Nations continue to be discriminated against in numerous countries.