Tuesday 21 November

This daily programme is updated very frequently - please keep checking back for new session details!

10:30 (90 mins)

Track 1

Building bridges in essential surgical care and education

Netherlands Society for International Surgery; Radboud UMC Nijmegen; Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi; Global Surgery Amsterdam; UMC Utrecht / WKZ

Co-chairs: Eva Stortelder, MD, pediatric surgeon; Marije Gordinou, MD, oncological surgeon; Hanna Hazenberg, MD, MD global health. on behalf of the Netherlands Society for International Surgery

Speakers: Kees van Laarhoven, MD PhD, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen; Lucy Kaomba, MD, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Blantyre, Malawi; Matthijs Botman, MD PhD, UMC Amsterdam and founder of Global Surgery Amsterdam

Surgical care is an essential part of global health and planetary health, accounting for one-third of the global burden of disease, and global surgery has been high on the international agenda for several years. By improving surgical care and surgical training, health care systems will also improve. Improving access to surgical care, and optimizing quality of surgical care and education, will diminish the burden of disease that now strikes millions of patients. 

In this session inspiring examples of surgical partnerships in health care and education will be presented, followed by a lively discussion on how we could further build sustainable bridges in global surgery, aiming for planetary health for all.

The purpose of this session is to:

• Introduce the concept of essential surgical care and the 'neglected surgical patient' in global health care;
• Give inspiring examples of surgical partnerships in health care and education that are need- and demand driven, sustainable and adapted to local context;
• Start an interactive discussion with the audience on what sustainable surgical partnerships should include and how we could best and efficiently collaborate from low and high income settings to reach this;

10:30 (90 mins)

Track 1

How to scale up novel health interventions? An emerging field.

KIT Royal Tropical Institute

Co-chairs: Beatrice Kirubi, Stop TB Partnership, Innovation & Grants Team, Global Health Campus, Switzerland; Egbert Sondorp, KIT Health Associate; Honorary Assistant Professor London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

Speakers: Aniek Woodward, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Athena Institute, the Netherlands, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands; Esmée Hessel, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands; Dr Susan Bulthuis, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands;

The purpose of this symposium is to inform participants about the emerging field of scaling up health innovations through the presentation of case studies and sharing of experiences, addressing the multiple dimensions of the scale-up process. 

Case studies will address the process of scaling up of psychological intervention for refugees, tuberculosis care interventions and district health management strengthening interventions. Participants will be engaged through a discussion/debate about the barriers and enablers of scaling-up health interventions in complex systems and contexts. Provocative statements will be discussed in small groups. Finally, the Chairs will summarize the session and key lessons learned from the debate such as the complexity of scaling up, how to plan for scale up, and a systems perspective.

10:30 (90 mins)

Track 2

Climate, animals and humans: rethinking One Health

Co-chairs: Marco Albonico, SIMET Board, Infectious Disease Specialist, Italy; Carsten Köhler, president DTG, Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Germany / Jurgen May, Department Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Germany

Speakers: Dr Charlotte Adamczick, University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland; Jackob Zinsstag, One Health group, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; Daniele De Meneghi, Dept. Veterinary Sciences- CISAO_UniTo, University of Torino, Italy; Adriano Casulli, WHO Collaborating Centre for the Epidemiology, Detection and Control of Cystic and Alveolar Echinococcosis; Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy; Dr Denise Dekker, BNITM Research Group “One Health Bacteriology”, Germany

In this session we will explore the environment alterations caused by man, which are reflected in climatic changes that may affect global health, contributing to outbreaks of re-emerging diseases in Europe and globally, and influencing transmission of endemic infections. 

Our objectives are:

• to link climate change to an increase in vector-borne diseases, as well as water and food borne diseases with impact on human and animal health;
• to highlight a One Health approach to climate change adaptation which may significantly contributes to food security, food safety and environmental sanitation;
• to foster integrated community-based surveillance and control of zoonoses as a promising avenue to reduce health effects of climate change;

10:30 (90 mins)

Track 3

Developing national roadmaps for scaling-up integrated care – lessons to be learned from the SCUBY project

Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, UMC Utrecht in collaboration with the SCUBY consortium

Co-chairs: Dr Martin Heine, Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Centre Utrecht; Dr Grace Marie Ku, Senior Researcher, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium

Speakers and panellists: Dr Srean Chimm, National Institute of Public Health, Cambodia; Dr Monika Martens, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium; Dr Črt Zavrnik, Dr Tina Virtic and Dr. Matic Mihevc (joint presentation), Primary healthcare research and development institute, Community health centre Ljubljana, Slovenia; Dr. Grace Marie Ku, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium; Mr Tyrone Reden Sy, WHO Regional Office for Europe; Dr Sean TaylorWorld Heart Federation;

The purpose of this session is to present the development and outcome of three country-specific roadmaps (Cambodia, Slovenia, Belgium) for the scale-up of an integrated care package for Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. These roadmaps are the end-project of a multi-year, European funded, project titled “Scaling up integrated care for Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension” (SCUBY).

Inviting audience participation, the panel will then discuss the value and challenges in developing broad (national, global) strategies and roadmaps for strengthening health systems; and the intricacies of converting such strategies into local or regional change for impact. 

The objectives are to:

• draw lessons from best-practice examples of developing roadmaps for integrated care across three diverse health systems (Cambodia, Slovenia, and Belgium);
• reflect on the value and challenges encountered, innovations done in response to challenges, and lessons to be learned to develop and to capitalize on national and global strategies, in order to catalyze subnational and regional change;

10:30 (90 mins)

Track 5

INFERTILITY: the untold story and still neglected health issue for men and women

Share-Net Netherlands, Knowledge Platform for sexual and reproductive health and rights, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Netherlands' Working Party for International Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health 

Chair: Prof Jelle Stekelenburg, UMC Groningen, Consultant Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Medical Center Leeuwarden and member NL Working Party for International Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health

Speakers: Dr Papreen Nahar, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK; Charlotte Frederike van Teunenbroek, MD, Leeuwarden Medical Centre, Netherlands; Cynthia Witsenburg MD, Dimbayaa Fertility Programme, Gambia

The purpose of this session is to break the silence on infertility, one of the most neglected and stigmatized health issues. 

Our aim is to:

• improve understanding that infertility is a serious health and human rights issue, affecting men and women, with gross inequities in [access to] information, diagnostic care and support;
• enhance learning about people’s perception of infertility and how they cope with infertility;
• disseminate information about what can be done (also by young people) to protect people’s sexual and reproductive health, including their fertility;

13:30 (90 mins)

Track 1

Fighting falsified and substandard medicines: acting on evidence in Indonesia and Afghanistan

Erasmus School for Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam; KIT Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands

Co-chairs: Dr Maarten Kok, Erasmus School for Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta Indonesia; Dr Elisabeth Kleipool, Sandra Alba, PhD, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands

Speakers: Amalia Hasnida, Maarten Kok ESHPM Erasmus University; Dr Elisabeth Kleipool, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands; Nima Yaghmaei, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands

In this session, we focus on the fight against falsified and substandard medicines in Indonesia and Afghanistan, presenting original studies on the size and nature of the problem and proposing solutions. How big is the problem? What are the root causes and what can be done to protect patients from poor-quality medicines? We will explore different methods for assessing the quality of medicines in both the public and private sector and present empirical examples of both random and risk-based sampling, patient perceptions, and an ongoing review of which medicines in the market are most at risk.

Our interactive session will centre on what can be done to reduce the chance that falsified and substandard medicine penetrate the market and reach patients. We will focus on how research can be used to ensure the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products and the need for intergovernmental collaboration, between departments and sectors, regulatory bodies, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders who play a role in ensuring the quality of medicines. Ultimately, our goal is to contribute to the global effort to address the drug quality crisis and improve access to safe and effective medicines for all.

13:30 (90 mins)

Track 2

Cost-efficient monitoring and evaluation of soil-transmitted helminths control programmes

Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium; Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Co-chairs: Bruno Levecke PhD, Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Ghent University; Lisette Van Lieshout PhD, Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands

Speakers: Prof Sitara SR Ajjampur, The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Christian Medical College; Prof Luc E. Coffeng, Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam; Mr Adama Kazienga, Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Ghent University; Ms Sara Roose, Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health; Mr Peter Ward, Etteplan Sweden AB; 

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) remain a public health concern, affecting approximately 1.5 billion of the world’s population. As a response to this, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its new 2030 targets for STH control programmes, aiming to reduce the number of tablets needed in preventive chemotherapy (PC) and eliminate STH as a public health problem (EPHP). 

To track the progress toward achieving these targets, cost-efficient monitoring and evaluation (M&E) strategies are crucial. This is because STH is predominant in resource-constrained countries, and it is important to minimize operational costs while ensuring the correctness of the program decision. 

This session will provide participants with new approaches for M&E of STH control programmes. In addition, the WHO launched a call to develop new and performant diagnostic methods in its 2021-2030  neglected tropical diseases roadmap. In response, our session will provide a view on promising and alternative diagnostic methods for M&E of STH control programs. These promising tools are serology (detecting anti-parasite antibodies in the blood) and artificial intelligence-based digital pathology and might create the opportunity to further reduce the operational cost during M&E surveys by increasing the throughput rate.

13:30 (90 mins)

Track 2 / Track 6

Training in sustainable local collaboration in the global health setting; examples from the field

Opleidingsinstituut Internationale Gezondheidszorg en Tropengeneeskunde (OIGT) or Global Health and Tropical Medicine training institute 

Co-chairs: Albertine Baauw, OIGT; Heleen Kruip, OIGT

Speakers: TBC

What conditions are needed to prepare health care professionals to create sustainable collaborations in global health settings, within the evolving perspectives on planetary health and health equity? What does this mean for the Global Health & Tropical Medicine training programme (Physician GH&TM) and other training programmes?

Examples of local projects that OIGT residents have worked on during their training for Physician GH&TM will be presented, followed by a plenary discussion where session participants are invited to share their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Principle values and conditions for sustainable collaboration in the Global Health setting will be discussed and formulated as take-home messages for training programmes and courses.

15:30 (90 mins)

Track 2

Clinical development of new anti-malarials

German Society for Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Global Health

Co-chairs: Dr Carsten Köhler, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Human Parasitology, University and University Clinics Tuebingen, Germany; Prof Peter G. Kremsner, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Human Parasitology, University and University Clinics Tuebingen, Germany

Speakers: Jana Held, Institut für Tropenmedizin, Reisemedizin und Humanparasitologie, Universitaet Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany; Rella Manego, Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Gabon; Ghyslain Mombo-Ngoma, Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Gabon and Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin, Hamburg, Germany; Michael Ramharter, Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin, Hamburg, Germany;

Every year there are more than 200 million cases of malaria and about half a million deaths worldwide; African children aged five and under bear the major burden. The most effective way to prevent an uncomplicated case of malaria from developing into severe disease and death is through prompt diagnosis and treatment. Currently, artemisinin-based combination therapies are the mainstay of treatment in all malaria-endemic countries. However, history has taught us that malaria parasites can become resistant to almost all drugs used heavily in clinical practice.

Therefore, there is an urgency to achieve the development of new combinations of antimalarial drugs with new mechanisms of action. The ultimate goal is the development of a combination of new compounds that block all stages and are potent enough to work as a curative single-dose, described as a Single Exposure, Radical Cure and Prophylaxis (SERCaP) treatment.

To preserve the existing antimalarial drugs, there are suggestions of triple or more combination therapies to gain time while new drugs with different modes of action and no cross-resistance with the current drugs will be implemented. There are presently several compounds in patient exploratory phases for blood-stage treatments including the imidazolopiperazine ganaplacide (KAF156), the more rapidly acting spironolactone cipargamin (KAE609), the Plasmodium eukaryotic translation elongation factor 2 (PeEF2) inhibitor M5717, the triaminopyrimidine ZY19489, and the more recent imidazothiadiazole INE963.

In this session we will present updates on clinical trials on triple and quadruple therapies made of artemether-lumefantrine plus atovaquone-proguanil or artesunate-pyronaridine plus fosmidomycin for uncomplicated malaria and artesunate-fosmidomycin-clindamycin for severe malaria, in addition to updates on the development of the combinations ZY19489-ferroquine, ganaplacide-lumefantrine, and M5717-pyronaridine.

15:30 (90 mins)

Track 2

Strongyloidiasis: challenges in endemic and non-endemic areas

Department of Infectious, Tropical diseases and Microbiology - IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Negrar, Verona, Italy; Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

Co-chairs: Dr Dora Buonfrate, MD, PhD, Department of Infectious, Tropical diseases and Microbiology - IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Negrar, Verona, Italy; Prof Lisette van Lieshout, PhD, Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

Speakers: Prof Emmanuel Bottieau, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Prof Jennifer Keiser, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; Prof Lisette van Lieshout, Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands; Prof José Muñoz, IsGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Dr Francesca Tamarozzi, IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Negrar, Verona, Italy; 

Strongyloidiasis by S. stercoralis is a neglected tropical disease that, according to most recent estimates, affects around 600 million people worldwide. There is no gold standard for diagnosis, and testing methods should vary based on setting (e.g. endemic versus non-endemic area) and purpose (e.g. screening versus individual diagnosis). Also, treatment strategies may vary according to the context. 

The aim of this session is to present the peculiarities and complexities of strongyloidiasis, highlighting the different approaches needed for diagnosis, clinical management and control in endemic versus non-endemic areas.

15:30 (90 mins)

Track 5

Are you applying an intersectional lens to your work on sexual and reproductive health and rights?

Make Way Consortium members: Wemos, the Netherlands; Liliane Fonds, the Netherlands; VSO Netherlands;

Chair: Lisa Ligterink, global health advocate, Wemos, the Netherlands

Speakers: Srushti Mahamuni, Advocacy and SRHR adviser, Liliane Fonds, the Netherlands, other speakers TBC

The Make Way consortium aims to break down structural barriers to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) through an intersectional approach to SRHR advocacy programmes in five countries in East and Southern Africa, as well as at the regional and global level. 

This innovative and pioneering work is done by applying an intersectional lens to SRHR and creating a bridge of evidence that brings theory and practice together to solve SRHR issues with a deep understanding of the complex realities on the ground. This means making overlapping vulnerabilities visible to understand their effects on people’s SRHR, at national, regional and global level. With insights and sound data, we develop innovative tools and build capacities of other civil society organisations to advocate the needed policy and societal changes. 

Our flagship product is the Make Way Intersectional SRHR Toolkit, which contains tools that can help you adopt an intersectional lens in policy and budget analyses, communication, social accountability, youth engagement and youth leadership.  

This session aims to let participants experience intersectionality and provides them with insights into two tools that have been applied in our programme. Together we will explore the different routes to advocate for intersectional SRHR programmes and policies that leave no one behind. 

We will start with the Inclusive Health Game. This game helps participants of the session to understand some of the barriers that people with intersecting identity characteristics face when they make use of health care services – and to create short term and long-term solutions so that participants can better advocate for health equity. Barriers range from how to enter the health centre, to how to access information that is not provided that is not geared towards people with certain characteristics (e.g., disability, gender identity) and counter stigmatizing beliefs about their (sexual and reproductive) health needs.  

17:15 (90 mins)

Track 2

Tuberculosis in the context of Covid-19 pandemic, how to turn challenges into opportunities

Organised on behalf of the institutions involved on the leadership and working groups from European Cooperation in Science and Technology, ADVANCE-TB and INNOVA4TB

Co-chairs:  José Domínguez, PhD, Institut d'Investigació Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain; Cristina Prat Aymerich, MD, PhD, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, UMC Utrecht

Speakers: Saddiq Abdurrahman, MD, Public Health Department, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria; Lorenzo Guglielmetti, MD, PhD, National Reference Center for Mycobacteria, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital - Sorbonne University - Médecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France); Alicia Lacoma, PhD, Institut d'Investigació Germans Trias i Pujol, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Spain; Nancy Virginia Sandoval Paiz, MD, Hospital Roosevelt, Ciudad de Guatemala. Asociación Guatemalteca de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Universidad Rafael  Landívar, Guatemala; Zorica Nanovic, MD, PhD, National TB Focal Point. PHI Institute for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia ; Helen Savage, MD, PhD candidate, Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK; 

Tuberculosis (TB) has been, for too many years, the leading cause of mortality from infectious disease globally. Although global TB control efforts were not on track even before the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, diagnostic, prevention and treatment strategies have been tremendously impacted in terms of disruption at every single level for the long term planned strategies for TB control. SARS-CoV-2 is unquestionably a One Health disease and has highlighted the concept of syndemics. 

The ADVANCE-TB is a research network that offers opportunities for collaboration between clinicians, academic researchers from interdisciplinary backgrounds, industry and non-governmental organizations to achieve breakthroughs difficult to obtain by individual partners, allowing a better understanding of the underlying host-pathogen mechanisms, enabling the transfer of basic science into innovative applications and allowing product development and clinical validation. 

This session aims to discuss current gaps and unprecedented opportunities to improve TB management and lessons learned as well as presenting the network as a platform for research coordination and capacity building activities. Objectives for the presentation in this congress aim for strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration which is mandatory for any progress in global health.

17:15 (90 mins)

Track 2

The challenge of schistosomiasis treatment in young children and pregnant women - example of freeBILy

Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine; Leiden University Medical Center

Co-chairs: Daniela Fusco, Bernhard Nocht Institue for Tropical Medicine, Germany; Govert van Dam, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands

Speakers: Pytsje Hoekstra-Mevius, Leiden University Medical Center; Raphaël Rakotozandrindrainy, University of Antananarivo; Josiane Honkpehedji, CERMEL Gabon; Friederike Roeder, IS-Global

The World Health Organization Neglected Tropical Diseases 2030 Roadmap targets for schistosomiasis focus on elimination as a public health problem, and the potential interruption of transmission. As such, there is a need for the alignment of national guidelines and strategies of endemic countries to include all groups at risk for the disease in targeted interventions such as preventive chemotherapy. 

However, there is a lack of prevention and treatment for schistosomiasis in two risk groups: preschool-aged children and pregnant women. Despite being heavily affected by the disease, research and policy have neglected both, (resulting in an absence of systematic treatment and testing practices). The reluctance to treat these two medically vulnerable groups as a preventive measure raised the question if a test and treat strategy might be a more effective solutions to reach these groups. freeBILy is a clinical trial conducted in Gabon and Madagascar. It is aimed at assessing the feasibility, effectiveness and safety of a test-based schistosomiasis treatment with Praziquantel in pregnant women and young children. In this session, we present the findings of the trial in order to discuss with the global health community the next steps needed to further push endemic countries to adapt strategies for treating young children and pregnant women.

After a brief introduction of the trial, four presentations of the main findings will be held. Specifically, we will discuss the diagnostic challenges for schistosomiasis, the safety and tolerability of Praziquantel, the efficacy of treatment in young children and pregnant women and the cost effectiveness of the test and treat strategy for schistosomiasis. A final debate between the speakers and the public will be opened in order to pinpoint challenges and opportunities identified by freeBILy and aligning those with the WHO NTD 2030 Roadmap targets for schistosomiasis.