The elimination of podoconiosis

Introduction

Podoconiosis, also known as ‘podo’, is a non-filarial form of elephantiasis endemic to the tropical, highland areas of Africa, central America and Asia, affecting an estimated four million people in Africa alone. The disease is caused by a reaction to the volcanic soils unique to these regions and symptoms include swelling and disfigurement of the feet and lower legs.

It is most prevalent in the subsistence farming communities who spend the majority of their time working barefoot in these irritant soils. Years of exposure can result in debilitating mobility issues, affecting a person's earning ability and local stigmatisation of the disease results in them, and even their entire families, being ostracised from their communities.

Professor Gail Davey came across cases of podoconiosis, which had been largely forgotten as a tropical disease in western medicine, in Ethiopia’s southern districts in 2001 while working in the School of Public Health at Addis Ababa University. She began building a PhD Public Health programme, encouraging further research into the disease, with the long-term aim of finding a way to eradicate it globally.

The centre encourages collaboration between researchers in Europe and the United States and those in endemic countries; provides funding opportunities for researchers in low- and middle-income countries; advocates for the prioritisation of the treatment of podoconiosis at regional, national and international levels; and promotes the dissemination of knowledge and retention of experts within endemic countries.