Context The project addresses the third United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (Good health and well-being), contributing to the fight against communicable diseases. In modern human medicine, the use of drugs is essential for the treatment of infectious diseases. However, many pathogens develop resistance to drugs through genetic adaptation, and this…
Context The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need to increase laboratory capacities in many countries, including the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. Since 2020, the BNITM has been supporting the country’s Ministry of Health in implementing laboratory diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2 under the SToP-CoV project. Nevertheless, there is still room…
Context Madagascar is facing significant challenges in its health care system, due to the high prevalence of infectious diseases in the country, particularly neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Many of these diseases occur simultaneously and have chronic manifestations, imposing a huge burden on the population. It is therefore vitally important to…
Short Description The project strives to develop a model bacteriology laboratory with the capacities to perform blood, stool, urine and cervical swab cultures and antibiotic susceptibility testing according to the WHO Global antimicrobial resistance and use surveillance system (GLASS) guidelines. The laboratory will be fully integrated in the national antimicrobial…
Short Description The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) is an Island state in Sub-Saharan Africa with approximately 200,000 inhabitants. Laboratory diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2 using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a crucial component in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the insufficient diagnostic capacity to detect…
Short Description Health crises such as the large Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in West Africa (2014-2016) require a rapid mobilisation of resources to manage the outbreak. When existing resources and measures are concentrated and re-allocated to cope with an outbreak, routine health care can be severely compromised. In addition, fear…
Short Description Since 2016, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine has been working with the Global Health Protection Programme (AfroLabNet) in Nigeria, Benin and Guinea to strengthen stationary and mobile laboratory capacities on viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) of the risk group 4 such as Lassa fever. The COVID-19 pandemic…
Short Description Respiratory infections represent a huge burden to the health systems in low- and middle income countries (LMICs). In the context of the current pandemic, the accurate and timely detection of the responsible respiratory pathogen has become increasingly crucial, particularly in Africa where healthcare capacities for severe cases are…
Short Description The World Health Organization (WHO) has added Lassa fever to its Research and Development Blueprint priority disease list, which includes diseases with a potential to cause public health emergencies for which there are currently no vaccinations or safe treatment solutions. The Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital…