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Eurice Engages in New Research Project to Eliminate Worm Infections in Sub Saharan Africa

Worm infections (helminthiases) affect around 1.5 billion people worldwide, making them one of the most prevalent infections in humans. Parasitic worms (helminths) are often transmitted through insect bites or contaminated soil in areas with limited access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare. These infections can cause chronic and debilitating health problems, such as lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), loiasis (African eye worm), mansonellosis, and trichuriasis (whipworm infection).

The new eWHORM project brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of research institutes, universities, and not-for-profit organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Europe to develop and test more efficacious and safe treatment options that act across different helminth species. The project will also train healthcare professionals to enable the diagnosis of multiple diseases in four endemic countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gabonese Republic, the Republic of Cameroon, and the United Republic of Tanzania. Several project partners, who collaborated in the recent "Helminth Elimination Platform" (HELP) initiative, are now continuing their ground-breaking research in eWHORM.

Coordinated by the University Hospital Bonn, Germany, eWHORM will profit from the partners' previous and complementary experience, while ensuring that a strong representation from the Global South drives all project activities.

"eWHORM represents a unique opportunity to unite African and European partners in tackling the burden of worm infections in sub-Saharan Africa and enabling the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases. The Eurice team are thrilled to leverage our knowledge and expertise to contribute to a project that will have a profound impact on billions of individuals," says Dr Sonja Bergner, Research & Innovation Manager at Eurice.

Over the next five years, the eWHORM project will be funded with EUR 7.9 million from the European Union's European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) programme and an additional EUR 3.4 million from the Swiss Government.

Learn more about eWHORM on the project website.

About Eurice

Eurice offers knowledge-based consultancy services in project and innovation management.

Eurice Head Office
Heinrich-Hertz-Allee 1
66386 St. Ingbert
Germany
Phone: +49 6894 388130
Email
Eurice Berlin
Alt-Reinickendorf 25
13407 Berlin
Germany
Phone: +49 30 374415840
Email