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December 2016 Newsletter

Contents

Reduced prevalence across the board


SCI are delighted to report reductions in prevalence (proportion of individuals in a population infected) for both urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis (SCH) in follow-up surveys of school-age children (SAC), for the majority of countries with survey data available.*

In representative samples, prevalence reductions of up to 45
percentage points for both SCH species are observed following one treatment round (“Follow-up” in the graphs below) and overall prevalence in the majority of countries fell below 10% following at least two rounds of treatment.

These data demonstrate that mass drug administration (MDA) programmes (the treatment of an entire population of SAC in a geographic area) are not only achieving great prevalence reductions of SCH, but that this impact can be observed very quickly in many countries.
Prevalence reductions of SCH are generally greatest in pre-ICOSA (Integrated Control of Schistosomiasis in Sub-Saharan Africa) surveys where the starting prevalence is also higher, as SCI work was focused in the areas of greatest need. As the programmes have expanded to treat whole countries, there has been a corresponding decrease in initial average prevalence  (as areas with lower levels of disease have also been incorporated). There are endemic areas where a decrease in prevalence is not seen and SCI works with its in-country partners at the Ministry of Health to develop a more comprehensive understanding of SCH transmission in those areas and determine appropriate control solutions.    

* Data is not yet fully available in some countries where programmes have only recently started.

SCI joins the Pediatric
Praziquantel Consortium

The SCI is proud to have joined forces with the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium to help develop and bring to market a new praziquantel formulation for children under 6 years of age.  

Currently there are an estimated 25 million pre-school age children (under 5 years of age) suffering from schistosomiasis and this age group lacks a suitable treatment at present.
The Consortium, established in July 2012, is a not-for-profit partnership that aims to reduce the global burden of schistosomiasis by addressing the medical need of infected pre-school age children. Its mission is to develop, register and provide access to a suitable formulation of the drug praziquantel for this age group. The paediatric formulation will be a smaller pill, exhibit an improved palatability (much less bitter taste) and be orally dispersible compared to the current commercial 600 mg formulation.
SCI, with its extensive expertise working with Ministries of Health across sub-Saharan Africa for the control and potential elimination of schistosomiasis, will support the Consortium in preparing and implementing the ‘Access and Delivery Plan’ of the new paediatric formulation in endemic countries.
SCI’s Prof Alan Fenwick says, “We see the paediatric praziquantel formulation as a breakthrough in the battle against schistosomiasis in infected young children, a group lacking suitable treatment until now.”

SCI will be adding to the existing scientific and regulatory proficiency provided by the other six partners of the Consortium. Please click here to read more about the other partners. 

A phase II clinical trial is currently being conducted in Côte d'Ivoire. Read more about this here.

Please click here to read the full press release. 

A tool to guide elimination
of schistosomiasis


Many schistosomiasis-endemic countries are looking to move their mass drug administration (MDA) programmes from ones centred on controlling the disease, to ones that aim to achieve elimination.

To achieve this objective, programme managers and policy makers need to ensure that their MDA programmes are on track, with prevalence and intensity (a measure of parasite burden) reductions achieved each year.

To assist with this, the SCI Operational Research team, in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London and partners at the WHO, have developed a model to predict what the prevalence and intensity reductions should be for a given programme over a defined period, so that countries can determine whether they’re on track.
The model works to identify instances where observed follow-up data of ongoing MDA programmes doesn’t match the predicted outcome, whether for better or worse.

In such instances, programme managers and policy makers are alerted to the need for action, to establish why the programme is either under or over performing, thereby facilitating change or replication.

It is hoped that this model will help improve ongoing MDA programmes, to ensure that the long-term goal of eliminating schistosomiasis is achieved.

Please click here to see the full publication. 

Success of Liberia’s first post-Ebola schistosomiasis MDA programme


The West African Ebola epidemic from 2013 to 2016 was the most widespread epidemic of the disease in history.  Of the 11,300 Ebola-related deaths in the region, over 40% occurred in Liberia.

The Ebola crisis further weakened Liberia’s already fragile national health system which was recovering from a 14-year civil war that started in the 1990s.  Over 200 health workers died fighting the disease and the state of emergency in the country meant that routine health services, including schistosomiasis (SCH) treatment were put on hold.
SCI initially started supporting the SCH control programme in Liberia in 2012 in collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). Working with the Liberian Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Department, SCI and LSTM supported the Ministry of Health (MoH) to conduct its first ever SCH mass drug administration (MDA) campaign in one county with moderate prevalence and three high prevalence counties.  Further support to Liberia in 2013 facilitated a second round of treatment of the three high prevalence areas, however the onset of the Ebola crisis brought all other planned treatment rounds to a halt.

With Liberia being declared Ebola-free in 2016, the MoH re-started its SCH treatment programme in July 2016 with technical and financial support from SCI.  Activities included advocacy and social mobilisation efforts (such as radio shows, posters, etc.)  in targeted counties, to regain community trust in the health system and dispel myths about the treatment.

Local community engagement was a key factor in this first post-Ebola MDA, to ensure communities knew and trusted front-line staff involved in the treatment campaign. Over 5,200 town criers, community drug distributors and local teachers were trained to conduct a week-long MDA campaign in their local schools and communities.
For added support, health facility staff, district education and health officers, and national MoH staff supervised activities at the school and community level.  This proved vital in a Muslim community in Lofa county where, due to the number of people who had died from Ebola, community members refused SCH treatments.

During a community meeting to discuss SCH and the importance of treatment with the town chief, elders and parents, one member of the supervision team - who spoke the local vernacular - took the drugs in front of the community, demonstrating it was safe. This quick-thinking member of the team greatly eased the concerns of parents, who went on to send their children for treatment.
Despite the challenges experienced while conducting the first post-Ebola MDA, the MoH with the support of SCI, successfully treated over 334,000 school-age children across three high prevalence counties, achieving over 75% treatment coverage. Thanks to quick-thinking, well-trained staff, the risk of thousands of children suffering the effects of schistosomiasis have been averted for another year.

SCI country programme updates 

Burundi: Despite ongoing political turmoil in the country, treatments for schistosomiasis (SCH) and soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are still being carried out successfully. The last mass drug administration (MDA) programme was completed in June 2016 when just under 1 million school aged children (SAC) received praziquantel for SCH and just over 3 million SAC received albendazole for STH. Burundi carries out bi-annual treatments against STHs, and the next round is due to take place in December 2016. The SCI Programme Manager, along with the SCI’s Senior Biostatistician, met with officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Burundi in November to discuss the ongoing treatment strategy to reflect the recently developed new national guidelines.

Cote d’Ivoire:  Thanks to the financial support provided by the SCI’s private donors and the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID), the programme has achieved national coverage in just under 2 years, an incredible achievement. All districts endemic for SCH (80 out of 82) have received at least one round of treatment. In October 2016, 2.4 million SAC were targeted to receive treatment in 36 districts. Coverage figures will follow in the new year.

DRC: After the first treatment round for SCH and STH in 2015 in 4 provinces, the national programme has been making significant efforts to organise MDA programmes on a timely and regular basis with the support of their neglected tropical disease (NTD) partners, including SCI.  SCI is providing technical support for SCH and STH sentinel sites, input on training and financial support for the integrated MDA programme. Baseline data was collected from sentinel sites to facilitate monitoring and evaluation going forward. In March 2016, an annual review meeting was held in Kinshasa with all partners and results, as well as lessons learnt, were shared with key stakeholders. To ensure that the short-comings raised after the previous MDA are addressed, several meetings between the MoH, project coordinators and partners have taken place in-country and through regular conference calls. The next treatment round was rolled out during November 2016, with 5.2 million SAC targeted to receive treatment for SCH.  

EthiopiaIn November 2015, Ethiopia launched its five-year national SCH and STH control programme with a campaign targeting over 16 million SAC for the treatment of STH and 6.5 million SAC for the treatment of SCH. This was followed by a second campaign in April 2016 for those areas requiring twice-yearly treatment of STH. The past year has seen the implementation of a robust monitoring and evaluation strategy, including the completion of baseline sentinel site surveys, coverage validation surveys and independent monitoring. The outputs will be used to inform the future direction of the programme. The focus of current activities is the use of the treatment platform as a base for operational research and capacity building to ensure the sustainability of the programme. The Federal MoH convened the country’s inaugural ‘NTD Research Symposium’ in August 2016, bringing together NTD researchers from across the country under one umbrella. In the upcoming year, the programme will aim to expand treatment to adults and vulnerable populations, to integrate with programmes against other NTDs, and with the water and school-feeding sectors. The programme recognises the generous funding of The END (Ending Neglected Diseases) Fund, Children’s Investment Foundation Fund (CIFF), DFID, and many SCI private donors.

Liberia:  Following a health system assessment exercise which revealed community readiness to resume NTD activities post-Ebola, the MoH resumed SCH treatment in July 2016 in Liberia’s three high prevalence counties. SCI supported the treatment of 334,667 SAC in Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties with over 75% treatment coverage in each county. Local community members were involved in mobilising and treating children. 1,211 teachers and 2,509 community drug distributors were trained to administer and record treatment numbers and over 80% of schools in the treatment areas participated in the week-long campaign. With SCI support, the MoH has planned another MDA for late 2016 to scale-up treatment to cover three additional counties.

Madagascar: Following the first round of MDA, which was rolled out to all SAC across 6 districts in November 2014, the programme scaled-up in December 2015, when 1.28 million SAC across 36 districts received treatment for SCH and STH. As is customary, a coverage survey was carried out following the second round to validate the reported coverage rates. The results showed that overall coverage was above the WHO recommended coverage rate of 75% of SAC in all districts surveyed and that coverage was equitable in both genders. In addition, drug uptake was the same in all districts surveyed. The first NTD partners meeting was held in Antananarivo, Madagascar in June 2016 to ensure synergy amongst all partners working in the NTD sphere in the country. This meeting was chaired by the WHO Country Representative in Madagascar, Professor Charlotte FATY NDIAYE. There was a second partner’s meeting in September 2016, where partners from the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), nutrition and vaccination sectors were invited to attend.  The next MDA will take place during November 2016 targeting 1.4 million SAC. SCI is also involved in a cysticercosis project in Madagascar with the WHO.

Malawi: Between May and July 2016 Malawi carried out another successful national treatment campaign. Figures are still to be confirmed, however initial data reports that around 6 million SAC and at-risk adults were treated. A coverage survey is currently taking place to validate the reported coverage figures and evaluate if the recent changes to the community and school treatment strategy have increased treatment coverage amongst children who do not attend school, one of the most at-risk populations. The fourth round of data collection measuring the impact of the programme since 2012 has shown a reduction in prevalence infection from 9.2% at baseline 3.64% this year. Due to these promising results, along with districts having now completed over 5 rounds of treatment at 75% coverage, 13 districts will be re-assessed to determine the future treatment strategy.

Mauritania: Thanks to the financial support of SCI’s donors, the programme in Mauritania is expected to treat 169,222 children in 11 districts in 2016. There are 21 districts that are co-endemic for SCH and STH, and Mauritania plans to reach national coverage by 2018.

Mozambique: SCI, through the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), provides support to the MoH in Mozambique to deliver a fully integrated control programme for lymphatic filariasis (LF), SCH and STH treatments across the country. Two MDA campaigns took place in 36 districts in May 2016 and in 120 districts in August 2016 utilising drugs donated by WHO/Merck. Both campaigns collectively reached over 8 million adults and SAC with PZQ and ALB. The next integrated treatment programme will take place during March and April 2017.

NigerSCI has been supporting the efforts of the MoH to control SCH in Niger since 2004. SCI purchases praziquantel tablets for Niger and provides technical and financial support on training for the integrated MDA programme. A school and community-based MDA will take place during November 2016 with SCI supported activities in 11 districts including an independent coverage survey after treatment has been completed. The November MDA will target 2.4 million SAC and adults.

Rwanda: In the last year, two treatment campaigns have been carried out in Rwanda, in November 2015 and April 2016. A total of 8.6 million treatments against STH and 212,000 treatments against SCH have been distributed to SAC. Other major activities that have been completed include the technical validation of mapping results, and the commencement of sentinel site based surveillance in 20 health centres distributed across the country. This marks the conclusion of the three-year grant from The END Fund to support treatment in Rwanda. The country is now in a position to explore exciting opportunities to transition the programme from morbidity control to one of elimination of infection as a public health problem. This will require strengthening routine surveillance and the capacity of the Health Management Information System, which will produce key lessons for many other country programmes in the region to consider.

Sudan: The Sudan Federal MoH’s Community Interventions Department (CID), responsible for the country’s NTD programmes, has recently been re-shaped, adopting an integrated approach incorporating non-NTD diseases including TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria. SCI and WHO are keen to assist the CID in finalising its 5-year strategic plan as it will serve as a strong tool to attract more funders and partners. The success of the distribution of 16 million praziquantel (PZQ) and albendazole (ALB) tablets in 2015-2016 (where the operational costs and support was provided by SCI in close partnership with WHO Regional and Sudan Country Offices and the Egyptian MoH) induced the government to continue its commitment to controlling SCH. The most recent distribution achieved a coverage rate of 77.8 % in the targeted 71 localities (districts), meeting the WHO target for the first time, according to the Community Interventions Department and Sudan Federal MoH.

Tanzania: In December 2015, SCI supported the treatment of 528,697 SAC in the three districts of Tanzania’s largest city, Dar-es-Salaam, achieving 95% coverage. This MDA campaign was implemented in collaboration with the community-wide LF treatment supported by the Filarial Programme Support Unit (FPSU) at LSTM. SCI supported the treatment of a further 2.2 million children across four regions in the Lake Zone in May 2016 (areas that have not received treatment since 2007) achieving 86% coverage. Baseline survey assessment was completed in January 2016 and follow up assessments will be conducted in the same regions in January 2017 to monitor for changes in prevalence and intensity of infection post treatment. SCI will continue to support the treatment of Tanzania’s Lake Zone region which has the highest prevalence of SCH in the country.

Uganda: Treatment took place between October and December 2015 in 143 sub-counties, across 34 districts, targeting approximately 1 million SAC. Reports following the treatment showed excellent coverage, reaching over 890,000 SAC. However, sentinel site data collected in 2015 revealed that some areas, despite numerous treatment rounds, still have a high burden of disease. In order to address this a re-assessment survey was carried out this year in 13 “hotspot” districts and the data collected informed  a review of the treatment strategy and other interventions currently being employed by all partners to determine how best to move forward. The next treatment round is due to take place in the 13 re-assessed districts between November 2016 and January 2017 using a combination of school and community based distribution.

Yemen: Despite the ongoing security situation in Yemen, two SCH and STH treatment campaigns were completed in 20 and 37 districts in February and May 2016 respectively, with average coverage of 80% achieved. In addition, with support from the END Fund, the country has successfully implemented an onchocerciasis pilot programme in two provinces. Incredibly, considering the circumstances, with the support of Sightsavers, the Mectizan Donation Programme and WHO mapping distribution of trachoma across the country was also successfully completed, all moving the country closer to delivering an integrated NTD treatment programme. Sadly, following security-related suspensions, the World Bank has announced that it will transition away from funding the programme in June 2017, while the END Fund will continue to support the programme until September 2017 and aims to leverage further funding to secure support beyond that date. Over time, a transition to routine school-based deworming of SCH and STH will reduce costs, increase government ownership, and increase sustainability. Support from The END Fund in early 2016 for operational costs, in partnership with SCI’s technical assistance, has been crucial in ensuring the programme progresses and enable these objectives, to align with the international WHO NTD 2020 goals.

Zambia2016 has seen the NTD programme handed back to the MoH after being housed within the Ministry of Community Development, Maternal and Child Health during 2015. An MDA covering 4 provinces took place in mid-2016 with support from SCI, in collaboration with LSTM. The expectation is to treat the Copperbelt and Northern provinces in November 2016 followed by the Southern, Western and Eastern provinces in January 2017. Once completed the country’s NTD programme will have achieved national coverage.

ZanzibarThe Zanzibar Elimination of Schistosomiasis Transmission (ZEST) programme continues, with SCI supporting the twice-yearly delivery of WHO/Merck donated PZQ, reaching 800,000 Zanzibaris during each treatment round. Working on developing a strong group of community drug distributors has been a primary goal this year, with the hope of increasing coverage to over 90% in the coming MDA rounds. The operational research being carried out through SCORE and the Natural History Museum, continues to add snail control, increased community awareness and WASH activities in a number of shehias (sub-district) on each island. The results from these studies will assist with the development of an updated NTD strategic plan later in the year. 

SCI awarded A+ rating by DFID for consecutive year

SCI is pleased to receive an excellent A+ rating from the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID) for a second year running.

Along with the Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Liverpool, SCI has received funding from the DFID ICOSA (Integrated Control of Schistosomiasis and Intestinal Helminths in Sub Saharan Africa) project since 2010.

As part of this funding, DFID conduct rigorous annual reviews of SCI activities in the 10 countries supported through the project, to develop its rating.

Key SCI activities assessed include monitoring and evaluation of programmes, treatment coverage and cost per treatment achieved.

Of note this year, was a demonstrated increased effort to achieve greater treatment coverage of non-enrolled school-age children, which was a concern in previous evaluations.

As part of the review, DFID also provide an overall risk assessment for the programmes. This year, it has been confirmed as “Minor”, which is an excellent score.

The full review, including recommendations, will be published by DFID in the coming weeks and will be available here 

 GiveWell ranks SCI as a “Top Charity” for sixth year running

SCI is delighted to be ranked as a "Top Charity" by GiveWell for the sixth year, confirming that SCI is one of the best causes to donate to.

GiveWell is a non-profit organisation dedicated to identifying the best giving opportunities possible, in terms of how much good a programme accomplishes per US Dollar received (such as the number of lives saved and lives improved).

The organisation conducts thorough evaluations throughout the year of hundreds of charities before publishing their recommendations. Top charities are ranked in order of the quality of the charity, the good accomplished by its programme and “priority” in terms of filling the charity’s funding gaps for the coming year.

This year, GiveWell has maintained SCI as second in its list of top charities, after the Against Malaria Foundation, and recommends that GiveWell donors allocate at least 25% of their intended donation to the SCI.

GiveWell suggests that “SCI could productively use or commit between US$14.4 million and US$26.8 million in [additional] unrestricted funding in its next budget year”.

GiveWell also noted that communication with and financial management at SCI has improved significantly in the last 12 months, and that the organisation has a strong track record of starting and scaling up schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth control programmes in many countries.

The benefit of additional funding to expand SCI-assisted programmes to more countries was also acknowledged, where the proposed countries include Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Chad.

The presence of four deworming charities in GiveWell’s top charities list this year is a fantastic endorsement for the effectiveness of this global health intervention.

Please click here to read the full blog post from GiveWell. 

A “Point of Light” at SCI

Dr Beatriz Calvo has done a remarkable job whilst volunteering for SCI and in recognition of her achievements, received the former Prime Minister David Cameron’s “Points of Light” award for her efforts in February 2016. 

This achievement is even more significant because Beatriz is the first non-British national to receive the award and was presented with it by none-other than the former US President Jimmy Carter during his visit to London. 
Beatriz volunteered to assist with statistical analysis of epidemiological data and mathematical modelling, and continues to do so for SCI.

Read more about Beatriz’s award here. 

Share some festive spirit!

Christmas is just around the corner and with so many friends and family to write to over the festive period, SCI is here to help.

With a selection of four beautiful card designs to choose from, there is sure to be one (or two) that you’ll love.

And here’s the best bit, for only £3.99, each pack of 10 cards pays for 10 treatments against schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths.

So, if you’d like to share a little festive spirit this year and ensure a few life-saving treatments too, please contact Christine (c.logan@imperial.ac.uk) at SCI and order your Christmas cards today.

Please note that delivery charges do apply.

Give as you click

Savoo is a great new way of giving to a charity of your choice through everyday online searches.

For every unique online search you make via their website, Savoo will donate 1p to your chosen charity. It’s that simple.

The search engine is powerful too, as they have teamed up with Bing to give you the search engine experience you’re used to, with the bonus of fundraising for free.

Savoo also have some great cost-saving vouchers available and make a donation to your chosen charity when you use them. With over 2,000 retailers to choose from, you’ll be sure to find a voucher to suit your needs.

Register, select SCI as your charity of choice and use Savoo to support SCI every time you search online.
Visit Savoo

Donate whilst you eat

ChariTable Bookings is just like any other restaurant booking app and website, but with a ChariTable difference. By making a booking through this app, £1 per diner is donated to your charity of choice. All at no cost to you.

They have almost 6,000 restaurants to choose from across the UK, so whether it’s a dinner date or a meal with friends, you could be raising £1 per person booked, whilst enjoying food at some of your favourite restaurants.

With over 7,000 charities supported, including SCI, this is yet another simple way to do good for great causes.

Please visit their website and make your next restaurant booking a charitable one.
 
Visit ChariTable Bookings
You can also download the free iPhone app on the App Store, for added convenience when you’re out and about.
 
Download the iPhone app
The Android app will be available soon on the Google Play store.

SCI team update

Demran Ali 
Communications and Development Manager


Demran joined SCI in September 2016, the first Communications specialist to join the team. Having previously worked as an Account Manager in the healthcare advertising sector, he brings with him a wealth of experience in strategy development and campaign management for a range of national and international healthcare brands. He completed his studies in Biomedical Science (BSc) and Modern Epidemiology (MSc) at Imperial College London.

 

Mike French
Senior Programme Manager, Ethiopia and Rwanda

 
SCI is sad to lose one of its longest serving team members this year. Mike joined the SCI in 2007 and with his excellent skills in management and negotiation, went on to become a Senior Programme Manager, providing support to the long-standing programme in Yemen, and leading the team in Ethiopia full-time to establish the national schistosomiasis and soli-transmitted helminth mass drug administration programme there. Whilst working, he also completed his PhD and contributed to publications in the field of neglected tropical diseases, as well as lecturing on a number of Public Health courses at Imperial College London. He will be sorely missed, but SCI wish him the very best of luck in his next venture at RTI International, where he will no-doubt go on to achieve amazing things in NTD control and elimination.
 

Carolyn Henry
Programme Manager, Ethiopia 

 
Carolyn is joining SCI in December 2016 after spending several years working in Tanzania and Nigeria working at Raleigh International and Médecins Sans Frontières. She is a qualified nurse and after working in several countries in nursing and international development, she completed an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She completed research on the use of mobile technology in health promotion and her interest is in Global Health, specifically in the area of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. She is looking forward to joining the SCI team and meeting the team in Ethiopia.

Elizabeth Hollenberg
Programme Manager, Zambia and Zanzibar

 
Elizabeth joined SCI in 2015 after spending time undertaking a social research project in Uganda and working on child and maternal health in Sierra Leone. Previously she worked in the USA on HIV healthcare policy, as well as on bio-behavioural health in servicemen and servicewomen. Her background is in communications and global programme management. Her main interests are behavioural change and programme policy specifically related to poverty-based diseases. 
 

Roya Karimnia
Value for Money Officer (Maternity Cover) 


Roya completed a BSc in Biomedical Science from University College London. She previously worked on a DFID funded project in the Upper East region of Ghana which aimed to enhance the health and wellbeing of people with disabilities. She went onto complete a MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and worked at Cancer Research UK as a Cancer Information Analyst, before joining SCI in November 2016.
 

Nadia Ben Meriem
Programme Manager
, Côte d'Ivoire and Mauritania

 
Nadia completed a BSc in Biology and a Diploma in International Development from the University of Montreal. She previously worked for the Vision Health Research Network in Canada as a Research Coordinator, where she had the opportunity to co-develop the Research Platform in Public Health. She went on to complete a MSc in Public Health for Eye Care at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, before joining SCI in April 2016.
 

Mousumi Rahman
Programme Manager
, DRC and Niger

 
Mousumi graduated with a Pharm.D from the University of Lyon in France and then she completed an MSc in Demography and Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. In 2011 she moved to Asia where she worked as a public health specialist on different infectious diseases. Mousumi joined SCI as a Programme Manager for DRC and Niger in April 2016.


 

Lazenya K Weekes
Programme Manager, Liberia and Tanzania

 
Lazenya completed a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from Royal Holloway University and an MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. After completing her Masters, she worked in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean for four years on public health and international development programmes. Lazenya joined SCI in April 2016 as a Programme Manager.

 

A big thank you to all our fundraisers!

With first-hand experience of schistosomiasis, Steve Hoy knows how traumatic the long-term effects of the disease can be and has been fundraising for SCI for years. This year has been no exception and he took on the rather big challenge of cycling the 178km L’Etape du Tour de France in July to raise money for SCI. Read more about his cycle ride here. 

Steve also hosts the Dulwich International Conker Knockout annually. This year all proceeds went to the SCI. If you would like to take part next year more details can be found here

Championed by Senior Academic Tutor Nick Milner, The Priory Academy LSST in Lincoln selected SCI as the school charity for the 2015-16 academic year. Fundraising events were organised throughout the year by different year groups and teachers, including a 12 hour dance-a-thon and the Head of Yr 13’s participation in the Swavesey Half Marathon. SCI’s Director Prof Alan Fenwick visited the school and gave a talk to students and teachers telling them how their fundraising would make a difference to thousands of children’s lives. Thank you for all your incredible hard work raising £974.75, which translates into just under 3,000 children in Ethiopia who will be treated and protected against schistosomiasis and intestinal worms!

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Association of Students annual theatrical review is a much anticipated event. Lasting 3 days, it is the core activity through which the student association raises funds for the charity it has chosen to support for the year.  This year’s show coincided with the 30th Anniversary celebrations of the university.  With the support of the Effective Altruism group at NTNU, SCI was selected as the Association of Students official charity for 2016. Professor Fenwick and Dr Peter Jourdan flew to Trondheim to lecture students about NTDs and SCI’s work, as well as to attend the opening night of this years show. Thank you to the students at NTNU for your incredible welcome, enthusiasm and generosity. The review raised £9,430.26 and will ensure SCI protects at least 28,291 children against schistosomiasis and intestinal worms.

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Copyright © 2016 Schistosomiasis Control Initiative at Imperial College London, HMRC ref.X2361. Charity Number: 273071. All rights reserved.

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Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London
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