Challenges of controlling sleeping sickness in areas of violent conflict: experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tong, J; Valverde, O; Mahoudeau, C; Yun, O; Chappuis, F

dc.contributor.author	Tong, J
dc.contributor.author	Valverde, O
dc.contributor.author	Mahoudeau, C
dc.contributor.author	Yun, O
dc.contributor.author	Chappuis, F
dc.date.accessioned	2012-03-07T02:44:00Z
dc.date.available	2012-03-07T02:44:00Z
dc.date.issued	2011-05-26
dc.identifier.citation	Challenges of controlling sleeping sickness in areas of violent conflict: experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 2011, 5:7 Confl Health	en
dc.identifier.issn	1752-1505
dc.identifier.pmid	21615932
dc.identifier.doi	10.1186/1752-1505-5-7
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10144/214529
dc.description.abstract	Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is a fatal neglected tropical disease if left untreated. HAT primarily affects people living in rural sub-Saharan Africa, often in regions afflicted by violent conflict. Screening and treatment of HAT is complex and resource-intensive, and especially difficult in insecure, resource-constrained settings. The country with the highest endemicity of HAT is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has a number of foci of high disease prevalence. We present here the challenges of carrying out HAT control programmes in general and in a conflict-affected region of DRC. We discuss the difficulties of measuring disease burden, medical care complexities, waning international support, and research and development barriers for HAT.
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	BioMed Central	en
dc.relation.url	http://www.conflictandhealth.com/content/5/1/7	en
dc.rights	Archived with thanks to Conflict and Health	en
dc.subject.mesh	Trypanosomiasis, African	en
dc.title	Challenges of controlling sleeping sickness in areas of violent conflict: experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo.	en
dc.type	Article	en
dc.contributor.department	Médecins Sans Frontières, Rue de Lausanne 78, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. jacquitong@yahoo.co.uk.	en
dc.identifier.journal	Conflict and Health	en
refterms.dateFOA	2019-03-04T09:42:10Z
html.description.abstract	Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is a fatal neglected tropical disease if left untreated. HAT primarily affects people living in rural sub-Saharan Africa, often in regions afflicted by violent conflict. Screening and treatment of HAT is complex and resource-intensive, and especially difficult in insecure, resource-constrained settings. The country with the highest endemicity of HAT is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has a number of foci of high disease prevalence. We present here the challenges of carrying out HAT control programmes in general and in a conflict-affected region of DRC. We discuss the difficulties of measuring disease burden, medical care complexities, waning international support, and research and development barriers for HAT.