More than one billion people all over the world suffer from tropical diseases which are mostly unknown to the wider public and have also been neglected economically. In a joint effort, five EFC members have opened a second round of funding for African scientists conducting research on neglected diseases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that worldwide more than a billion people suffer from tropical diseases which are mostly unknown to the wider public and have also been neglected economically. Almost half the victims live in Africa.

The provision of sustainable support for tropical medicine is the aim of the European Foundation Initiative for African Research into Neglected Tropical Diseases (EFINTD), a joint programme of Fondation Mérieux, Fondazione Cariplo, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Nuffield Foundation and Volkswagen Stiftung.

The five foundations first joined together in 2007 to provide support for the fight against diverse diseases. In the new second round of funding, now seven young African researchers from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique have been selected to share the sum of 851,000 euros for a two to three-year period. Since the first joint call for proposals in 2008, ten fellowships funded to the tune of 1.34 million Euros have already been awarded to African researchers.

For more information, visit:

http://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/service/news/article/129/850000-euro.html?no_cache=1&L=1&cHash=e5edc33475
http://www.ntd-africa.net/