Health Check
Guinea eliminates sleeping sickness
Feb 5, 2025
Matt Fox, a Professor of Global Health at Boston University, Andrew Green, a global health journalist, and Dr. Wilfried Mutumbo-Kalungi, head of clinical operations at the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, discuss the significant elimination of sleeping sickness in Guinea. They dive into the strategies that made this progress possible, like mass screening and vector control. The conversation also sheds light on the implications of recent shifts in US foreign aid policies on vital global health initiatives and highlights the ongoing challenges in regions like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
26:28
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Quick takeaways
- Guinea's successful elimination of sleeping sickness underscores the importance of innovative strategies like mass screening and vector control in disease management.
- The restructuring of USAID poses serious risks to global health initiatives, potentially jeopardizing critical programs targeting diseases like malaria and HIV.
Deep dives
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