Amsterdam UMC wants to work worldwide to provide the best care for tomorrow. Therefore, we sometimes work across national borders. Read the most recent articles on the topic of global health:
Sustainable Collaboration in Global Health: Amsterdam UMC signs MoU with AIGHD and Makerere UniversityToday, Amsterdam UMC, Makerere University (Uganda) and the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD) signed a letter of intent to consolidate their collaboration. Amsterdam UMC and the AIGHD have been working with Makerere University on rs for a long time in terms of research and the exchange of knowledge. This is in line with Amsterdam UMC's focus on sustainable collaborations in the field of Global Health.
No persistent cough in four out of five with Tuberculosis More than 80% of patients with tuberculosis, the world’s most deadly infection, do not have a persistent cough, despite this being seen as a key symptom of the disease. The infection is predominantly transmitted by coughing, but probably also through simply breathing. Research, led by Amsterdam UMC and the Amsterdam Institute for Global Heath and Development, analysed data on more than 600,000 individuals in Africa and Asia and found that 82.8% of those with tuberculosis had no persistent cough and 62.5% had no cough at all. These results are published today in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Tuberculosis bacteria also present in those who are not diagnosed with TBMycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria that causes a tuberculosis infection, is present in exhaled breath of 90% of those presenting with suspected tuberculosis. This includes those who were negative on conventional sputum testing and not diagnosed with TB. This raises the possibility that those who have tested negative may be unknowingly transmitting the infection. Researchers from the University of Cape Town and Amsterdam UMC analysed results from over 100 patients who presented themselves to clinics in South Africa. These findings are published today in PNAS.
Tackling the effect of climate change on diarrheal diseasesDiarrhoea is, globally, the third largest cause of death for children under 5. Contributing to more than 500,000 deaths. Climate change, driving increased flooding and droughts, threatens the fragile progress made in reducing the burden of diarrheal disease over the past decades. Together with the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Amsterdam UMC is set to lead a global consortium in the hunt for improved interventions.
Priming, Shaping and Polishing: In search of a HIV VaccineWorldwide, an estimated, 40 million people live with HIV. Two-thirds of this group on the African continent. In 2022, more than 600,000 people died from HIV-related causes and more than 1.3 million were infected. There is no vaccine against the world's second most deadly infection, after TB. Thanks to a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Amsterdam UMC's Rogier Sanders leads a project that aims to develop the first effective HIV vaccine.
Tackling the effect of climate change on diarrheal diseasesDiarrhoea is, globally, the second largest cause of death for children under 5. Contributing to more than 500,000 deaths, only pneumonia kills more children each year. Climate change, driving increased flooding and droughts, threatens the fragile progress made in reducing the burden of diarrheal disease over the past decades. Together with the Amsterdam Institute of Global Health and Development, Amsterdam UMC is set to lead a global consortium in the hunt for improved interventions.
In search of a cure for HIV for the group that are hit the hardestA universal solution to the HIV epidemic, regardless of what type of virus the patient has. That is the ambition of Dutch and African researchers in the SPIRAL-project. They recently received a grant of more than 6 million euros from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the AidsFonds.
How more efficient genomic surveillancing could benefit the whole planet Your every move being tracked by a series of cameras as you walk through the city. A sign, for George Orwell, of the ultimate dystopia. But surveillance can have massive benefits for public health, especially when you track genes. Yesterday, at the annual Joep Lange symposium, Simon de Jong, PhD candidate at Amsterdam UMC presented his research on how more efficient genomic surveillance could benefit the whole planet.
Charles Agyemang elected to the US National Academy of Medicine Charles Agyemang, Professor of Global Migration, Ethnicity & Health, has been invited to join the US National Academy of Medicine. Making him one of only 6 current members in the Netherlands and the second from Amsterdam UMC, after the late Henk Lamberts.