Angola praised for effort against sleeping sickness

Angola, Luanda – Angola’s financial contribution to the fight against the sleeping sickness in the Kuango-Zambezi region was praised Monday in Bamako, Mali, at the 31st session of the Scientific Council for Research and Control of Trypanosomiasis, Angop learned .Angola is attending the meeting going until Friday with a delegation headed by the director general of the Institute of Combat and Control of Trypanosomiasis, Josenando Teófilo, including specialists from the ministries of Health and Agriculture and Rural Development. The session was opened by Cissé Mariam Kaidama Sidibé, Malian prime minister, on behalf of the local head of State, AmadouTouré. In her address, Cissé Mariam Kaidama Sidibé presented a welcoming message from the Malian head of State who wished the meeting to be successful and bring solutions for the eradication of the sleeping sickness in Africa. On Tuesday, the session focused on presentation of reports from member countries, with Angola’s representative speaking of the Government’s activity in the last two years (2009-2010).  Addressing the event, Josenando Teófilo said the origin of the sleeping sickness is very dispersed, with seven endemic provinces. The official added that in Angola trypanosomiasis threatens about six million people in the endemic zones.  In addition to the data on trypanosomiasis in Angola, the ICCT official spoke of the spray operation being conducted in the southern region of the country and in the endemic provinces, including ongoing research. Meanwhile, on the fringes of the meeting, the focal points of the Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) gathered and presented the new officials of the African Union’s Coordination Office, with headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For five days, the participants will discuss the progress made in the project of advocacy of the African campaign for the eradication of the tsetse fly and trypanosomiasis, including the effort made over the last two years. About 300 people from 37 endemic countries are attending the meeting, including representatives of international research institutions like WHO, FAO, Pattec and others.      The 30th session was held in Kampala, Uganda, in 2009.