Over 200 African scientists from 34 countries met in Nairobi on Friday to engender greater regional research partnership to combat the most neglected diseases such as sleeping sickness, kalaazar and malaria.

The international conference, organized by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), the scientists and policymakers noted that significant progress has been made since the first meeting calling for greater research cooperation in 2003.

Clinical research platforms for kalaazar and sleeping sickness have been established on the continent, and African scientists have contributed to the clinical trials of a new drug for malaria, they said.

"This meeting of the best scientific minds will consolidate the endeavor of African researchers to work together in the search for new drugs to fight neglected diseases," remarked Kenyan Health Minister Charity Ngilu.

"Kenya has its share of these burdensome diseases and is proud to be a member of this regional partnership, so we can share information and expertise with fellow scientists from Africa and the rest of the world."

The scientists said new drugs and diagnostics are desperately needed as only 1.3 percent (21 out of 1,556) of new drugs developed over 30 years was for neglected tropical diseases and tuberculosis, even though these diseases account for 12 percent of global disease burden.

But the capacity of research and development in developing countries is limited, in part due to the remoteness and geographical spread of patients with neglected diseases, has led to a serious lack of research of innovative medicines for this population, they argued.

DNDi is currently conducting two unprecedented, large multi- centre clinical trials in collaboration with African scientists: one on paromomycin, a treatment for kalaazar in Africa, and the other a co-administration of nifurtimox-eflornithine for sleeping sickness. The new treatments are expected to be available to patients within three years.

"Developing countries have the ability to provide new solutions for neglected diseases, but every day we face an uphill battle to find home-grown capacity for research and development into diseases that affect our poor," said Dr Davy Koech, Director Kenya Medical Research Institute.

"By working together in regional, needs-driven research platforms, we are not only on the way to addressing the lack of capacity, but also helping in the trials for new drugs," he added.

"To meet our aim of developing new, field-adapted treatments that meet the specific needs of neglected patients, we need to work closely with scientific experts from endemic countries," said Dr. Bernard Pecoul, Executive Director of DNDi.

Malaria is a case in point. There are 350 to 650 million clinical cases every year worldwide, 60 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: Xinhua