Ghanaian Onchocerciasis Expert Committee meeting

Ghanaian Onchocerciasis Expert Committee meeting

In February, several of our team members travelled to Ghana to participate in the Ghanaian Onchocerciasis Expert Committee (GOEC) held in Accra, Ghana. Implementation Manager Sophie Weston, Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs Sarah Kilpatrick and Vice President and Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis Project Leader Sally Kinrade were able to join and present at the meeting, convened by the Ghana Health Services Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme. We are planning the roll-out of the MOMENTUM pilot field programme for moxidectin in Ghana, which will introduce moxidectin as an alternative treatment to ivermectin in onchocerciasis elimination programmes, and the trip to Ghana provided a great opportunity to meet with local experts in discussing approaches to combatting river blindness (onchocerciasis) in the region and to discuss future use cases for moxidectin with the Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana (GFDA). All 10 of Ghana’s regions are affected by NTDs, which have enormous public health significance.

We are grateful to senior regulatory team members at the GFDA, members of the GOEC and Dr Joseph Opare of the Ghana Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme for their hospitality.

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