Background and objectives

Eleven years ago, the Regional Network on Asian Schisosomiasis and Other Helminth Zoonoses (RNSA+)was established with support from different international agencies, TDR/WHO in particular, and strong  interest and efforts from scientists around the world. The 11th RNAS+annual meeting and workshop will be held in Siem Reap City, Cambodia. For  the second time (the first one was in 2003), the National Malaria Center, Cambodia, has agreed to host the  event.

Three major activities related to the workshop will be arranged, the first of which is the 11th annual meeting of RNAS+, to be held on 17 October, 2011. The second is a training course on social marketing of approaches to neglected tropical diseases to be held on 18 October, 2011.  The third is the donors’ meeting, which is planned for 19 October, 2011.

The 11th Annual Meeting of RNAS+

This year’s annual meeting is expected to review the progress of the RNAS+, followed by the scientific exchanges regarding the programme of EcoHealth Emerging Infectious Diseases, the first collaborative RNAS+project , which is supported by the IDRC, Canada.

Specific meeting objectives

• Update and discussion on the progress of control and research in the RNAS+ targeted diseases in each member country.
• Update and discussion on the collaborative project on “Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Control of Asian Schistosomiasis and Other Helminth Zoonoses through Socio-Ecosystem-Based Interventions”.
• Discussion of future collaboration opportunities, and research challenges.
• Formulation of a RNAS+ workplan for next three years.

The Training Course

The training course on Social Marketing of Approaches to Neglected Tropical Diseases, planned for 18 October, 2011, will be co-organized with The National Social Marketing Centre (The NSMC), UK. The invited experts will give lectures on several relevant topics on mobilizing research and control of neglected tropical diseases. Further exercise on these topics will be arranged during the training course. We are expecting about 30 junior scientists together with 20 senior scientists from RNAS+ member countries.

The donors’ meeting

The purpose of the donors’ meeting is to improve interaction activities between board members of RNAS+ and potential donors. About 10 donors from different international agencies located in Cambodia or WPRO region will be invited to participate. A more detailed agenda will be developed for the donor’s meeting in due course.

Logistics

The National Malaria Center, Cambodia, will host this workshop in REE Hotel, Siem Reap City, Cambodia on 17-19 October 2011. Participants including board members of the RNAS+, International Advisors, and young scientists in the member countries will be invited. We specifically invite more international agencies as potential donors to support the activities of RNAS+. At the same time, we invite delegates from sister networks, the Regional Network on Schistosomiasis Africa (RNSA), to participate in all events of the workshop, in order to exchange experience on networking, and to explore the further south-south collaboration.

Provisional program of 11th RNAS+ workshop

REE Hotel, Siem Reap City, Cambodia, 17-19 October 2011

 

Time		Items
17 October	9:00-9:30	Opening Ceremony -welcome speech by local authorities -welcome speech by the Chairman of RNAS+ -welcome speech by WHO representative(s)
	9:30-10:00	Group Photo, Coffee break
	10:00-12:00	General progress of RNAS+ in the previous year Technical reports on the RNAS+ targeted diseases in each member country – given by national scientists
	12:00-13:30	Lunch
	14:00-15:30	Progress of the IDRC project Progress report  from  the seven PIs of each institution involved in RNAS+
	15:30-16:00	Coffee break
	16:00-17:30	Lectures related to the IDRC project Lecture 1: Eco-system-based epidemiological research approaches Lecture 2: Data handling and statistical approaches including database management
	17:30-18:30	RNAS+ Board Meeting
	18:30-19:30	Welcome dinner hosted by the local organizers
18 October	8:30-10:00	Training course on social marketing of approaches to neglected tropical diseases (1)
	10:00-10:30	Coffee break
	10:30-12:00	Training course on social marketing of approaches to neglected tropical diseases (2)
	12:00-13:30	Lunch
	14:00-15:30	Training course on social marketing on neglected tropical diseases (3)
	15:30-16:00	Coffee break
	16:00-17:30	Training course on social marketing of approaches to neglected tropical diseases (4)
	18:30-19:30	Dinner
19 October	8:30-10:00	The future of RNAS+: Donors’ meeting
	10:00-10:30	Coffee break
	10:30-12:00	The future of RNAS+: Donors’ meeting (continued)
	12:00-13:30	Lunch
	Afternoon	Closure
20 October		Leaving