The Center for Tropical Diseases and AIDS at Ben-Gurion University's Faculty of Health Sciences is mobilizing to burn intestinal worms among about 30 people in Ethiopia
About 30 people in Ethiopia will participate in an intensive activity for the eradication and eradication of intestinal worm diseases initiated and carried out by the Center for Tropical Diseases and AIDS (CEMTA of the Faculty of Health Sciences. This is the first phase of a large-scale activity which is intended to encompass larger populations in Ethiopia in other countries in Africa and Asia, as part From a global struggle to eradicate these diseases, which are part of the neglected tropical diseases that currently affect about a quarter of the world's population!
According to the director of the center and the initiator of the project, Prof. Zvi Bentoich, who was among the first in the world to point out the possible connection between these contaminants and the AIDS epidemic in Africa, it is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this struggle. "These diseases are neglected because they do not bother the rich and developed world, characterize the poorest populations in the world, contribute to the perpetuation of poverty in them, and increase their vulnerability to serious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Their eradication will bring about a significant improvement in all aspects of existence and health and of course will also reduce the dimensions of the great epidemics - tuberculosis and AIDS. Failure to treat them will not only perpetuate the situation but will even worsen it Poverty. Therefore, there are few medical problems in our world where such dramatic and significant results can be achieved in a short time and with such a relatively small investment," emphasizes Prof. Bentoich.
The intervention program itself, which includes the provision of medicines and health education, will begin its activities towards the month of August 2008 and will initially be concentrated - as a pilot program - in three areas in Ethiopia, two in an urban area - in the city of Addis Ababa and one in a rural area in the Rift Valley. The population that will benefit from the intervention is diverse and includes school-aged children and adults. In the future, the program is supposed to expand to other regions in Ethiopia and even to other countries in Africa and Asia,
Prof. Bentoich considers the project he initiated, also a Zionist-Jewish mission. "At a time when Israel is one of the rich and developed countries, the time has come for us to 'contribute and help the weak and the poor', to be an example and model for others and to fulfill the vision of "fixing the world" in practice." He wants to see Ben Gurion University as a leader of this move that will attract students and teachers to participate in it and will also bring Jewish friends of the university to support it.
For the purpose of implementing the project, until now, the center has raised resources from various sources in Israel and mainly abroad and is engaged in raising additional resources in order to expand the activity.
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