Pan American Health Organization recognizes research by Dr. Urbà González on leishmaniasis
Cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is a neglected disease that affects more than 80 million people around the world.
BY BIOCAT
The team led by doctor and scientist Urbà González, director of Barcelona’s Research Centre for Evidence-based Dermatology, has received an award from the Pan American Health Organization (OPS)-Iberoamerican Cochrane Network 2010 for their work focusing on interventions to treat cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in Central and South America.
For the past year, the OPS and the Cochrane Iberoamerican Center, an international organization devoted to raising awareness of scientific proof that is used for healthcare decision-making, have granted this distinction to the systematic revision with the highest impact on health in America.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a neglected disease that affects more than 80 million people around the world, mainly in developing countries. It can have serious long-term effects and lead to ostracism of patients, so controlling it helps improve quality of life for sufferers.
The revision of Dr. González’s work was carried out thanks to the support of the OMS Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Cochrane Skin Group team.
Presentation of the Cutaneous Leishmaniasis International Observatory
Under the framework of the 19th Cochrane Colloquium, held in Madrid from 19 to 22 October, the Cutaneous Leishmaniasis International Observatory (CLIO) was also presented. This new initiative aims to manage knowledge “in such a way that scientific evidence is the central focal point for future discussions on public health policy and clinical research in cutaneous leishmaniasis," explained Dr. Urbà González, who co-leads the project with Armando Ruiz, director of the spin-off Topping from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and founder of the scientific research and awareness-raising project IdeasenSalud.com. Follow the initiative on Twitter: @ onLeishmania
The Cochrane Colloquium brought together more than 1,100 scientists and professionals from around the world to analyze how to improve healthcare quality and patient safety.