by Neau P, Hänel H, Lameyre V, Strub-Wourgaft N, Kuykens L. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases 2020, 5(1), 17. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed5010017
Summary: Until recently, treatment options for Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT or sleeping sickness) were limited and unsatisfactory. Over the past two decades there has been an increase in funding and awareness of HAT, which has contributed to a steady decline in reported cases. One result of this has been the development of fexinidazole, the first all-oral treatment for HAT, which received European Medicines Agency positive scientific opinion in 2018. It has been included into the WHO interim guidelines as one of the first-line treatments for HAT, allowing lumbar puncture to become non-systematic. This review highlights the role of global collaborations in the effort to control HAT and develop new treatments, including the long-standing collaboration between the WHO, Sanofi, and DNDi.
