I workshop on Neglected Diseases at the University of Navarra
Experts from research centers, laboratories and NGOs explained to the students the importance of finding new drugs against these diseases.
The University of Navarra has held the I workshop on neglected diseases, aimed at students of Degree and postgraduate program to make them aware of the reality of these diseases, which affect more than 1,000 million people in the world.
In the meeting, organized by the Medicines Unit of research and development+i of the academic center -in space by Dr. Silvia Pérez and Dr. Silvia Galiano-, participated, among others, the researcher Paul Nguewa, director of the recently presented high school of Tropical Health University of Navarra; Dr. Lluis Ballell-Pages, of the pharmaceutical company GSK, who spoke about the commitment of companies to advance in treatments to prevent these diseases; and Dr. Nines Lima, a reference in neglected diseases. Lluis Ballell-Pages, from the pharmaceutical company GSK, who spoke about the commitment of companies to the advancement of treatments to prevent these diseases; and Dr. Nines Lima, a reference in neglected diseases of the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières.
According to Dr. Lima, "the Spanish healthcare system must be prepared to deal with new cases of diseases such as Chagas disease or malaria, which are no longer suffered only in Latin America but have also reached our country as a result of tourism or emigration". In her opinion, the problem of caring for people suffering from these ailments is aggravated when they are illegal immigrants, outside the national health system: "In fact, in some cases, such as HIV or Chagas disease, the patients can live without knowing they have the disease -since both can present no symptoms for years- and die from this cause without knowing it". To avoid this, the specialist stresses the importance of detecting these ailments in Primary Care and knowing how to refer the patient to units specializing in tropical diseases.
"Pastillas contra el dolor ajeno"
In this sense, Alma Saavedra, delegate for Navarra of Doctors Without Borders, thanked the participation of the people in the campaign "Pastillas contra el dolor ajeno", which the NGO launched three months ago and which has already sold more than 3 million boxes of pills. "Part of this success is due to the partnership of pharmacists, who have gone out of their way to distribute the pills in their pharmacies, and the fact of launching a positive message reinforced by the testimony of public people who have supported us free of charge," explains manager.
Her purpose is to continue with the campaign in Spain and, perhaps, expand it to other countries in order to continue supporting the fight against other neglected diseases: "For now we are using the money raised to halt the overwhelming advance of HIV in Zimbabwe, where 14.3% of the population over 14 years of age suffers from the disease; and to eradicate Chagas disease in Bolivia, where it is endemic in 60% of the territory," added Dr. Nines Lima.
The workshop was closed with a roundtable that brought together all the guests and where the latest advances in ailments such as malaria, Chagas disease, tuberculosis, etc., were discussed, coordinated by Dr. Antonio Monge, director of the research center in Applied Pharmacobiology (CIFA) of the University of Navarra and member of the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Spain.
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