© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
TOMSK, Nov 7 – RIA Tomsk. Siberian state medical university (SSMU) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) signed the agreement within which they will investigate the opisthorchiasis infection reasons and parasites that cause it, and also develop new approaches to treatment and to train experts, the correspondent of RIA Tomsk reports.
The agreement is signed within the congress "Health care of Russia. Technologies of the advancing development", which takes place in Tomsk. Tomsk region is the fourth in the Russian Federation in opisthorchiasis disease, it is registered 188,8 cases of disease on 100 thousand of the population in the region at the average Russian indicator 24,7 on 100 thousand. The causative agent of the disease living in the West Siberian rivers, parasite Opisthorchis felineus, gets to a human body through river fish.
"The priority is to establish cooperation in the field of education, including teaching activity, programs of training, educational courses. <...> We plan to carry out the research activity directed on studying of various aspects of an invasion of Opisthorchis felineus", – it is told in the text of the agreement.
© РИА Томск. Яков Андреев
It is specified that the researches will concern not only studying of the parasite and an opisthorchiasis, but also interrelation between opisthorchiasis and other diseases. Joint clinical tests of drugs and development of new approaches to treatment, and also the academic exchange of students and scientists are planned.
"Parties are mainly interested in exchange of experience with colleagues to solve this socially important problem (opisthorchiasis disease)", – associate professor of Swiss TPH Peter Odermatt told after signing of the agreement.
The rector of SSMU Olga Kobyakova added that the cooperation assumes work in some stages. Definition of epidemiology of opisthorchiasis - delimitation of areas where the disease is spread, number of the diseased, level of diagnostics and other indicators necessary for further work will be the first task of scientists.