The organization of the XVIII International Congress of Tropical Medicine and Malaria, to be held on September 23rd to 27th in Rio de Janeiro, is supported by Fiotec. The event is conducted by the International Federation of Tropical Medicine and by the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine (SBMT) and will be held at Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz). Conferences and round-tables will cover advancements and challenges in the control of malaria, problems as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis and dengue fever, in addition to many bacterial, viral and fungal diseases.
The event will be held simultaneously with the XLVIII Congress of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine and the 28th Meeting of Applied Research in Chagas Disease. The event expects approximately 3,000 people.
In an interview to IOC website, José Rodrigues Coura, president of the Congress, stated that health problems are not restrictive only to their respective countries. He mentioned the example of Chagas disease, which nowadays worries not only Latin America, but also Spain and United State, due to trips. For this reason, Coura bets in a discussion on the topic in which specialists and scholars are able to exchange knowledge and information.
The head of Malaria Research Laboratory, at IOC, Cláudio Ribeiro, believes the event in Rio de Janeiro will help promote the topic of neglected diseases (and diseases frequently associated with poverty) as the city is in the spotlight due to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. The last three congresses were held in Cartagena (Colombia), Marseille (France), and Jeju (South Korea).
Brazil
According to the organization of the event, Brazil is suitable for hosting the Congress because it has a wide range of biomass and the largest tropical forest in the world. The Amazon Forest covers a territory equivalent to 40% of the South America and 5% of the earth surface, and 61% of its extension are located in Brazil. Additionally, Brazil has the largest hydrographic network in the world, providing for 20% of the world’s fresh water reserves.
As a consequence of the wide biodiversity, many tropical diseases affect the country. There are also other diseases that are not on circulation, but may be introduced due to existing contributing conditions, which have been the object of research activities and concern during the last years.
World scenario
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around one billion people are affected by tropical diseases, such as Chagas disease, Hansen’s disease, dengue fever, malaria and leishmaniasis, in 149 countries around the world.
To learn more about the event, access the website
*Information provided by IOC, Cievs Rio, SBTM.
