The Vaccines Against Schistosomiasis for Africa (VASA) consortium and the International Institute of Science and Technology (IIS Tech) co-hosted the first International Symposium on Tropical Diseases on November 24-26, 2022 in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso. The theme of this meeting was “Technological innovations and the fight against tropical diseases”, and included special highlighted sessions on the VASA project and schistosomiasis research. The symposium was conducted entirely in French, with an emphasis on schistosomiasis research and control in the context of Francophone countries in West Africa. Sessions were held on the current status of schistosomiasis in Burkina Faso, the national schistosomiasis control programs in the region (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Guinea), and the newly updated WHO recommendations for schistosomiasis control and elimination. The special session on the VASA program included an introduction to the overall program, preliminary results from the prevalence and seroprevalence study, an overview of the socioeconomic study, and the Phase 1b clinical trial in Burkina Faso. The two VASA consortium partners local to Ouagadougou, Groupe de Recherche Action Santé (GRAS) and University of Ouagadougou (UoO) were the main hosts and coordinators of the meeting. The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and University of Cambridge (UCAM) teams provided additional support in developing the stakeholder meeting agenda topics and VASA-related presentations. The meeting was organized with the support of the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. Overall, the International Symposium on Tropical Diseases and particularly the VASA sessions were very well received, and have been featured in the local Burkinabe news circuit in both television and digital media. Please find more details of the News at: https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article117598
VASA General Assembly Meeting