Tackling FGS - A priority for equality

Connecting Citizens to Science

We have a really important episode for you as we approach World Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) day on 30th January calling for all to act together and act now.

We are going to be talking about female genital schistosomiasis, which affects approximately 56 million girls and women in sub-Saharan Africa. Host, Kim Ozano is joined by co-host Pamela Mbabazi from the United Nations with guests; Rhoda Ndubani, who is a study manager for a female sexual reproductive health screening programme for FGS in Zambia, Christine Masong, who is a PhD student with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine undertaking research in Cameroon, exploring how culture and the social structures affect illness experiences and treatment pathways of girls and women with FGS, and finally, Dr. Victoria Gamba, who is a gynaecologist and advocate for FGS awareness based in Kenya.

If you would like to understand more about FGS, here's some resources for you:

A call to action for universal health coverage: Why we need to address gender inequities in the neglected tropical diseases community

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7067373/

Discussion paper the gender dimensions of neglected tropical diseases from the Access and Delivery Partnership in partnership with LSTM

https://adphealth.org/upload/resource/2523_ADP_Discussion_Paper_NTDs_211119_web.pdf

Useful factsheets on FGS:

Japanese: https://adphealth.org/upload/resource/2523_ADP_Discussion_Paper_NTDs_211119_web.pdf

English: https://adphealth.org/upload/resource/2658_ADP_NTDs_and_Gender_factsheet_280120.pdf

More about our guests;

Dr. Pamela Sabina Mbabazi - Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), WHO headquarters in Geneva

Presently, Pamela is working as a medical epidemiologist in the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Her current research interests include strengthening monitoring and evaluation for neglected tropical diseases programmes particularly in vulnerable populations with a focus on women and children, notably for female genital schistosomiasis (FGS).

She has authored several publications in peer reviewed journals, mainly related to methodologies for tracking public health gains for neglected tropical diseases and the effects of co-morbidities.

Dr. Victoria Gamba - Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Private Practice/Ministry of Health Kenya/University of Nairobi

Passionate about participatory efforts to reduce and eliminate vaccine preventable illnesses and an advocate of gender equality and promoting sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls, Victoria is a resident obstetrician and gynaecologist at a private health group and a part time consultant with the Ministry of Health Department of Vector-borne and neglected tropical diseases in collaboration with LVCT-health Kenya.

Rhoda Ndubani -Study Manager, Zambart

Rhoda is the study manager at Zambart on a study called ‘Zipime Weka Schista’, a longitudinal Cohort Study focusing on Integrating Female Sexual Reproductive Health Screening in Zambia focused on one-stop self-sampling for schistosomiasis and other genital infections. The aim of the study is to develop a holistic approach for the community-based diagnosis of female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) through a comprehensive package for sexual and reproductive health screening including human papillomavirus (HPV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV and Schistosomiasis across endemicity settings (from high to low transmission) in Zambia. The duration of the study is from 2021 to 2025. And they aim to recruit 2500 women in the cohort.

The women are screened for FGS and HPV using self-sampling in the household and at the health facility. The women are provided with information and instructions on how to do the self-sampling. The study is observing high acceptability so far. The next stage of the study is to run validation of the self-samples taken at home and the ones collected in the health facility.

Makia Christine Masong (Msc) - PhD student, Catholic University of Central Africa; MTN-OCEAC fellow

Christine is a social scientist from Cameroon, where, with the immense support from the KfW MTN/OCEAC PhD scholarship for researchers from Central Africa sub-region is conducting research on neglected tropical diseases. She is currently completing her thesis in medical anthropology on the social representations of FGS including the sexual and reproductive health, mental and socio-economic impacts on the lives of young girls and women in Cameroon. Christine works with community members and fore-line health workers at the primary health care level to understand the existing cultural and social dynamics which encourage the continued incidences of this gynaecological condition, and also how the response towards its management is organised within these same communities and within the formal health system.

Relevant links:

WHO road map for NTDs: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240010352

ipime Weka Schista! (Do self-testing sister!): https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/centres-projects-groups/zipime-weka-schista

https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000007&type=printab

le https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7463188/

https://www.eliminateschisto.org/blog/gsa-celebrates-international-womens-day

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