Sleeping Sickness

With help from a patient and national staff, Katherine Sisterman, a U.S. nurse on her first assignment with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in northern Central African Republic (CAR) developed a song to teach people about human African trypanosomiasis, also called sleeping sickness or trypano. Here, she describes how the song came to be.

Geneva/Kampala, September 22, 2009 - NECT (Nifurtimox-Eflornithine Combination Therapy), the first new treatment in 25 years against Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness, is now available. Endemic countries have now begun the process of ordering the new combination treatment and kits through the World Health Organization (WHO). Developed by DNDi and its partners, NECT cuts the cost of treatment by half and significantly reduces the burden on health workers. The announcement was made today at the International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasi Research and Control (ISCTRC), in Kampala, Uganda.

Half a year after Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were forced to abandon its project in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to the security situation, it is still not safe to return. Meanwhile, infection levels of sleeping sickness, which was a main focus of MSF’s activities in the area, are on the rise and many vulnerable people are at risk to the fatal disease.

"Since we left, at least 1,000 people have died of sleeping sickness in the region. It is unacceptable. We cannot stand here with our arms crossed and let people die that way. As soon as the situation allows, MSF will go back."

A new treatment has potential to make a difference in the fight against sleeping sickness. The fatal parasitic disease, which has ravaged Africa for decades, is causing thousands of deaths each year and has been spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with refugees and displaced, who are fleeing from conflict and do not have access to proper treatment.

Geneva/New York, May 15, 2009 – A new treatment option for sleeping sickness, a fatal disease that threatens 60 million people across sub-Saharan Africa, has been added to the Essential Medicines List (EML) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The inclusion of NECT (Nifurtimox-Eflornithine Combination Therapy) is based on an application submitted by the non-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), supported by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Epicentre, MSF’s epidemiological research center.

Geneva/New York, February 23, 2009 — MSF and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) called today for more sustainable funding for research and development (R&D) to tackle deadly, yet neglected diseases, such as sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease, that affect millions of people around the world.

New Orleans, Paris, Geneva; December 9, 2008 – Positive results from a pivotal, multi-center, multi-country Phase III trial investigating an improved treatment for the advanced stage of sleeping sickness were presented yesterday at the 57th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. This trial shows conclusively that NECT is a safe, effective, and practical treatment.

Atlanta, November 15, 2006 — Preliminary results from a study conducted by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) show that significantly shorter and simplified treatment of African sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis — HAT) could be possible in the near future. Announcing the study today at the 55th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Atlanta, the organization stressed that measures must be undertaken to ensure that this treatment can be used as soon as possible at country level, and that older, toxic treatments are phased out."

Human African Trypanosomiasis, also known as African Sleeping Sickness, is a fatal and much neglected disease that continues to plague parts of Africa. The drug most commonly used to treat the disease is so toxic that it kills one in 20 patients. While a better drug exists, it is too complex to use in resource-poor settings. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sleeping sickness has made a disturbing comeback over the past few decades.