By Maxwell Awumah
Ho, Nov. 05, GNA- Professor Margaret Gyapong, the Scientific Lead of the WINGS-4-FGS project, has said it is imperative to place female genital Schistosomiasis (FGS) as an all-inclusive approach into broader reproductive health to ensure greater alignment.
The WINGS-4-FGS (Initiative for Women and Girls affected by FGS) Project, is being implemented and spearheaded by a consortium of researchers at the Institute of Health and Research (IHR), University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), to build capacity in the recognition, diagnosis and treatment for FGS at all levels of the health system.
She said it was essential to integrate FGS into public health pathways through research, advocacy, and community engagements to stem the burden the condition impugns on girls and women, especially in deprived communities.
Speaking at the three-day WINGS-4-FGS kickoff meeting of scientists and researchers at the UHAS main campus at Ho, Prof. Gyapong said researchers were unmasking the disease and making available diagnostics and surveillance tools and resources for the management of FGS.
The project aimed to address pressing needs for tackling female genital schistosomiasis in Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Malawi, Madagascar and Rwanda, by improving case management and therapeutic access, while integrating FGS care into Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) strategies.
Prof. Gyapong, also the Co-Principal Investigator of the WINGS-4-FGS project, said though a precarious incidence, FGS had previously been under researched and misunderstood, as new grounds were being broken by research leading to treatment and elimination.
Working with country programmes and local and global scientists, she said evidence was presented by assessing the socio-cultural, clinical, health systems, identified the gaps, diagnosed and treatment to provide compelling evidence.
She stated that the consortium had documented the Ghana situation and presented a future agenda for action to ensure that this Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) were put on the maternal health agenda, to gain the necessary attention.
“Intended impact and pathways are to achieve reduced morbidity, mortality, and poverty associated with NTDs through increased knowledge and evidence for cost effective scale-up and sustainable control and elimination of NTDs as a public health problem in line with the WHO 2020 NTD Roadmap,” Prof. Gyapong added.
Prof. Amaya Bustinduy, a schistosomiasis researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, UK, and a Coordinator of WINGS-4-FHS underscored the need to develop an integrated approach that combines several key workstreams to effectively address FGS.
She said raising awareness and educating both healthcare workers and community members about FGS would build the foundational understanding, which was critical for early detection and reducing stigma.
Prof. Bustinduy emphasised introducing innovative diagnostic tools to improve the detection of FGS with new methods aimed at identifying the disease more accurately and efficiently, especially in resource-limited settings.
She said research strategy was treatment, which formed a critical component through conducting clinical trials across four endemic countries: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Malawi.
Prof. Bustinduy, said FGS posed serious health risks to women and girls, which could impair their reproductive health, leading to infertility and difficulty in conception, as the disease often mimicked symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) though it was not.
“This misidentification can lead to misdiagnosis and mistreatment. The disease carries a heavy social burden, as affected women and girls may face stigma and exclusion within their communities.
“A part of our mission is to combat this stigma and integrate FGS care into broader sexual and reproductive health services,” the researcher added.
The expected outcomes were to achieve new diagnostic tools for FGS, improved treatment protocols, widespread awareness and education and empowerment of women living with FGS as well as train healthcare professionals and community members central to sustaining these outcomes.
Prof. Bustinduy, said it was essential for governments to collaborate with experts in FGS research to help escalate their research work to affect humanity, adding that build strong partnerships was key to integrating FGS detection and treatment into national health systems.
Dr Maxwell Dalaba, the Acting Director of IHR and Director of Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases, envisions IHR to be a global research brand capable of conducting high quality, cutting-edge research and training in health and allied sciences.
He said the Institute consisted of Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) Research, Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Research, Centre for Health Policy and Implementation Research, as well as Centre for Malaria Research and Research Operations Office (ROO), responsible for grants management, ethics, intellectual property and research uptake, funding opportunities, funder’s terms and conditions, costing, submissions, contracting, financial reporting and audits.
He said some ongoing research included Sustainable Access and Delivery of New Vaccines in Ghana (SAVING) study, targeted at building capacity of multiple stakeholders to identify and address implementation challenges for effective delivery and uptake of new medical interventions; WINGS-4-FGS.
“IHR is open for collaborations to advance health research on the FGS project,” he said.
Integration into clinical pathways, treatment and management guidelines, health policy recommendations, drugs and diagnostics supply and access.
Prof. Frank Edwin, the Pro Vice Chancellor of UHAS portrayed a rare incidence where an autopsy linked the death of a young man to cardiac schistosomiasis, an indication of an in-depth diagnosis of patients beyond genital schistosomiasis.
“This place the kickoff meeting at the heart of research and commended researchers and partners for navigating this discourse,” he said.
The objectives of the kickoff meeting would provide a comprehensive overview of the project achievements and milestones during the first year duration, highlight key outcomes, challenges and lessons leant to ensure transparency, understanding among consortium members, discuss any pending issues, challenges, or bottlenecks that require the attention of partners, encourage active participation of all members to ensure alignment on critical decisions and actions.
The WINGS-4-FGS project is co-funded by the European Union, EDCTP 3 and Swiss Confederation among others.
GNA
Edit by Christabel Addo