A news release from the Ministry of Health: DRC MINISTRY OF HEALTH - National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) becomes WHO's first collaborating center in the DRC. The Google translation:
The National Institute of Biomedical Research becomes the first WHO collaborating center in the DRC Kinshasa, November 15, 2018 - The National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) of Kinshasa has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Training in the Diagnosis of Trypanosomiasis African human, or sleeping sickness. The INRB becomes the first WHO collaborating center in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
"The fact that WHO has granted us the status of collaborating center is recognition of our skills and decades of hard work. This confirms that we are ready to serve not only our country, but also the neighboring countries," said Professor Dieudonné Mumba Ngoyi, Chief of Parasitology Department of INRB, including the National Reference Laboratory for Human African Trypanosomiasis. This laboratory is now a new WHO collaborating center.
Human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is a deadly parasitic disease transmitted by tsetse flies. It has touched several African countries over the years. About 85% of new cases currently occur in the DRC. In recent years, routine screening and treatment has reduced the incidence of new cases to a few thousand, but the risk of a new outbreak is still present.
The elimination of sleeping sickness in the DRC is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Health, which has also established the National Day for the Fight against Human African Trypanosomiasis, celebrated for the first time on January 30, 2018 in Kinshasa .
The INRB laboratory for sleeping sickness collaborates with the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp (IMT), which has been assisting since 1998 in the creation and operation of the laboratory as well as in the training of staff.
"Since sleeping sickness is becoming increasingly rare, it is also more difficult to diagnose at an early stage. The position and skills of the INRB as a diagnostic reference center are essential for the elimination of this disease. The INRB National Reference Laboratory for Human African Trypanosomiasis has a proven track record and we are pleased to be able to collaborate with them," says Professor Philippe Büscher, head of the Parasitology Diagnostic Unit at IMT.
Efforts to eliminate sleeping sickness in the DRC are being conducted under the umbrella of the National Program for the Control of African Human Trypanosomiasis (PNLTHA), in collaboration with a consortium of international partners including WHO, IMT, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiatives (DNDi), PATH, FIND, and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM).
