5S members were delighted to welcome Dr Asiedu, Medical Officer from the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) at the WHO, to open their 4th annual meeting.
Dr. Asiedu focused on three key messages: how 5S outputs can contribute unique insights in the context of operational research into skin NTDs, how the focus on stigma represents significant progress for NTD partners and the importance of uncovering bottlenecks in current NTD interventions.
He also reminded attendees about the recently created WHO NTD working groups, where several BSMS researchers are already involved and contributing.
The meeting took place over Zoom, and included 46 participants from across the four countries where 5S is active. We were particularly thrilled to see and hear from our Sudanese colleagues, who have suffered displacement due to the ongoing conflict in that country, but were able to join from different locations.
The programme covered a range of presentations from early career researchers grouped under the themes: gender, refugee settings, lived experience, global policy and intervention evaluation. As well as giving space for discussions on career pathways, safeguarding, community engagement and involvement and communicating research beyond academia.
