The IACS Steering Committee is delighted to award our first small grant in collaboration with the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
This grant will support Ana Garcia Mingo to conduct a study in Ecuador evaluating how common scabies is in rural populations in the Amazon. These populations have previously received treatment with ivermectin for the elimination of another Neglected Tropical Diseases Onchocerciasis. Anecdotal data suggests that since the Onchocerciasis programmes ended that scabies, which is also treated with ivermectin, has become a major problem again in these communities. Better understanding this is a key question for scabies programmes but also to understand what will happen in other countries as onchocerciasis programmes come to an end.
We really look forward to the results of the study which will make an important contribution to our global understanding of scabies.
