Season's greetings from the GSA
Dear Friends,
As 2019 comes to a close it is good to reflect on an intense year of activity and recognize the many achievements of esteemed partners, who work tirelessly in endemic countries to stop the damaging impact of schistosomiasis. It is a real pleasure to work with such dedicated and remarkable colleagues. Two important examples of progress this year include the improvements being formulated for mapping and drug delivery which will lead to targeted treatments and better use of donated praziquantel, opening up the possibility of reaching and treating those previously excluded, and the increased recognition of the morbidities associated with genital schistosomiasis leading to both increased funding and much needed operational research.
We would like to give huge thanks to WHO for their inspiring work developing the new NTD roadmap, involving wide consultation with the NTD and public health communities. Next year will see the launch of the new WHO NTD roadmap and hopefully many endemic countries will move forward with their plans to eliminate schistosomiasis as a public health problem. Below we bring you some exciting news from the schistosomiasis community, and some events to look out for next year. In the meantime, we wish you all a most enjoyable festive season and the GSA secretariat would like to thank you for a wonderful year together!