Location:
The Kirby Institute Level 6 Seminar Room Wallace Wurth Building UNSW Australia Sydney NSW 2052
Open to
All
Contact for enquiries
Rata Joseph +61 (0)2 9385 0900 rjoseph@kirby.unsw.edu.au
The Kirby Institute is pleased to present:
Professor John Kaldor
"Mass drug administration in disease control."
Tuesday 17th March 2015
1pm - 2pm
Abstract:
Mass drug administration (MDA) is a public health strategy that aims to control endemic communicable diseases by offering population level treatment, regardless of individual disease status. MDA has achieved remarkable successes in the control of diseases of global importance, including onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis. Investigation of MDA impact has required the use of novel clinical trial methods, that measure reductions in disease burden and organism presence as well as safety. The Kirby Institute has recently become involved in the evaluation of MDA for trachoma in remote Aboriginal communities, and for scabies in Pacific island countries. MDA has also been investigated for the control of endemic bacterial sexually transmitted infections but findings and their implications remain controversial.
Biography:
John Kaldor is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. He holds a doctorate in Biostatistics from the University of California. Berkeley, and began his research career at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. For over 25 years he has built and led internationally recognised research programs at UNSW on the epidemiology and prevention of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted and bloodborne infections.
His research has covered a wide range of projects, including the development and implementation of public health surveillance systems, investigations of HIV-related cancer, cohort and cross-sectional investigations of risk factors for infectious disease transmission, and interventional trials of disease prevention strategies.His research has had a particular focus on populations experiencing health disadvantage in Australia and internationally.He has had close working relationships with public health programs in a number of countries of the Asia-Pacific region, particularly Cambodia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.