Our Research

Neglected Tropical Diseases

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of 20 conditions that are mainly prevalent in tropical areas, where they mostly affect impoverished communities and disproportionately affect women and children. Among these NTDs includes; Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, dengue and chikungunya, dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease), echinococcosis, foodborne trematodiases, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, leprosy (Hansen’s disease), lymphatic filariasis, mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses, onchocerciasis (river blindness), rabies, scabies and other ectoparasitoses, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, snakebite envenoming, taeniasis/cysticercosis, trachoma, and yaws and other endemic treponematoses. These diseases cause devastating health, social and economic consequences to more than one billion people. The epidemiology of NTDs is complex and often related to environmental conditions. Many of them are vector-borne, have animal reservoirs and are associated with complex life cycles. All these factors make their public-health control challenging. Onchocerciasis and Schistosomiasis are endemic in 35 and 81 districts respectively In Uganda Gulu University is located at the heart of northern region previously devastated by war for two decades that forced two million people into internally displaced people’s (IDP) camps. This region has been confronted with myriads of socio-economic and conflict-related health problems of IDs and NTDs that includes Ebola, malaria, Schistosomiasis, Onchocerciasis and trypanosomiasis. Continues movement of cattle from Uganda to South Sudan and refugees fuel potential cross border spread of HAT in both countries. Northern Uganda borders Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) replete with security insurgency, persistence Ebola and many other IDs and NTDs out breaks that pose greater danger to Uganda and neighbouring countries. Onchocerciasis and Schistosomiasis are endemic in 35 and 81 districts respectively In Uganda. Besides, Uganda is the only country in the sub-Saharan Africa where both rhodesiense and gambiense HAT occur. The main research question is why are these IDs and NTDs still re-emerging and remain endemic in this part of world? Are there knowledge gaps, cross-cutting strategies and interventions that can explored?