ISNTD FESTIVAL

2019

theatre

SHOWCASE: AUDIO 2019

The END Fund is a private philanthropic initiative to control and eliminate the five most prevalent neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that together, affect over 1.6 billion people worldwide.

The story of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is one that touches a wide variety of people – from recipients of sight-saving surgeries to philanthropists, scientists, advocates, implementing partners, government officials, and pharmaceutical company representatives – to name a few. It is through our collective voices that we can start to see the interconnectivities between us all.

The END Fund's Listening Tour is a podcast series that captures many of these unique perspectives with the hope for increased dialogue and awareness.

Listening tour

In the season two premiere of the Listening Tour, we speak with three different people about that specific moment when they decided to work in the global neglected tropical disease field.

 

We hear stories from Teshome Gebre (regional director for Africa at the International Trachoma Initiative), Bill Simmons (President of the American Leprosy Missions) and Serge Resnikoff (President of the Organisation pour la prévention de la cécité). Combined they have spent decades working on this cause.

The Beginnings

The Truth About Hawaii

BBC Radio 4 15-minute drama

 

By Oliver Emanuel. Potent and playful drama set in a near future where antibiotics are no longer available.

Hawaii

‘How do we encourage high participation in a mass-drug administration trial?’ was the question Moudachirou Ibikounlé and Adrian Luty, the site principle investigators of DeWorm3 in Benin had to answer, as the team prepared to sensitise their local communities to a large scale campaign to provide treatment in a research trial to investigate the feasibility of eliminating intestinal worms. They needed a high number of individuals across a large age range to agree to take medication, and in some cases provide urine and stool samples, over the next three to five years.

 

Starting as a project for a local youth group, an awareness song was launched at a DeWorm3 lead community event to a live crowd. The success of the piece lead to a professionally recorded track by the youth group members. The song has been played across the district of Comé and feedback from community members has shown that it has led to increased education about intestinal worms and the aims of the deworming campaign, especially amongst teenage audiences. The chorus says ‘we need to eliminate’ and ‘we need to get treatment’ while the main lyrics talk about the project, the effects of intestinal worms and urge people to listen to the experts for a better health. Year 1 of the Benin campaign has had high coverage of the target population treated during MDA.

 

Credits: Carrefour Jeunesse Comé (Youth Hub, Comé)

Production: Carrefour Jeunesse CJ Arène

 

Singers:

- Bibi bel Pierre

- El Zare

- Edie Black

CHORUS

Cette mauvaise maladie

On doit éliminer –

On doit se faire soigner (x3)

Dans tout comé

Dans tout le Benin

 

We must eliminate

This nasty sickness.

We need to get treated (x3)

In the whole of Comé

In the whole of Benin