Traditionally, the Annual Workshop of the Regional Network on Asian Schistosomiasis and Other Helminth Zoonosis (RNAS+) focusses on the current challenges and research priorities in the field of schistosomiasis and other helminth zoonoses in the region.
  Since its birth in 1998, RNAS+ has served as a major local and international platform to coordinate multiple activities in the control and research of Neglected Tropical Diseases.  The recognition of NTDs particularly increased after WHO First Report in 2009 and WHO NTDs Roadmap (2012) expanded priorities to several further zoonotic helminthiases.  RNAS+ has had a leadership role in contributing to;

• Effective prioritizing of the control and research of neglected tropical diseases in WPRO and SERO regions,
• The design and implementation of the multi-country reach project while successfully engaging more stakeholders and international agencies in the region.
• Improving the capacity for local staff from the member countries in the field of control and research of neglected tropical diseases.
• Assisting the design and implementation of WHO/WPRO Research Strategic Plan for NTDs.
• Increasing NTDs knowledge sharing by jointly publishing more than 30 scientific articles, two books of Advances in Parasitology, and one new journal of Infectious Diseases of Poverty.

Foodborne trematode infections are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that affect more than 56 million people throughout the world.  People become infected through the consumption of raw or poorly cooked fish, crustaceans and vegetables harboring minute larval stages of the parasites, of which the most common species effecting people are Clonorchis, Opisthorchis, Fasciola and Paragonimus. These parasites are endemic in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) namely Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of China, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.  Recent publications have reported an increase of these food-borne parasitic diseases in certain parts of China. Importantly, Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini are human liver flukes that cause several hepatobiliary diseases including the fatal cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a type of liver cancer that occurs in the bile duct.  Thailand has the highest reported incidence of CCA in the world. In addition, most GMS countries rank within the top 10 countries in the world for liver cancer incidence. 

Increasingly, tropical disease research activities in the Southeast Asian region focus on the control, surveillance and response to emerging or re-emerging parasitic diseases by using transdisciplinary approaches with multi-sector collaboration.  For example, under the framework of the RNAS+, an EcoHealth project entitled “Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Control of Asian Schistosomiasis and Other Helminth Zoonoses through Socio-Ecosystem-Based Interventions” is currently being supported by IDRC in partnership with scientists from the following 6 countries: Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, these 6 countries span two WHO regions, namely WPRO and SEARO. 

Based on the pressing challenges in food-borne parasitic diseases in the GMS region as well as the research progress on the EcoHealth project, RNAS+ proposes to hold its 13th Annual Workshop in Khon Kaen, Thailand from October 24th thru 26th, 2013, with the following four objectives:

1. to present the current status and key findings after the implementation of RNAS+ EcoHealth Project targeting the diseases: schistosomiasis, clonorchiasis, opisthorchiasis, fascioliasis, cysticercosis, and agiostrogyloidiasis,
2. to discuss the lessons learned from each country’s study sites and to analyze the next step by visiting Thailand’s transdiciplinary EcoHealth Project (Lawa Model) study site as an on-site training activity in control of human liver fluke in Northeast Thailand,
3.  to provide a half day training workshop in Geospatial Techniques for Public Health, and
4. to review the criteria and fulfillment of the RNAS+ research work plan/action plan.

More than 30 participants from the RNAS+ member countries in the two Asian regions are anticipated to participate in the workshop. These countries include: Cambodia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.  International advisors from Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, USA, and UK as well as officers and experts from the WHO HQ, WPRO, SEARO, and TDR, IDRC, CIDA, AusAID and Asia Development Bank are also expected to attend the workshop. 

This is the first workshop held in Thailand since the establishment of RNAS+.  Foodborne trematode infection, particularly opisthorchiasis is a major public health problem in Thailand, particularly in the North-East region where RNAS+ proposes to hold this workshop.  Given Thailand’s has long-standing experience in research and control of liver fluke disease, holding the 2013 RNAS+ Workshop in Thailand will provide a great  opportunity for other member countries to learn more about the disease and adapt control strategies to fit their own disease model and apply in their respective countries.  Moreover, this workshop will also promote more scientific collaboration for tropical disease research between international health research authorities and Thailand health research authorities. 

The tentative agenda for the workshop is designed for three days (Appendix 1). The first day will include current status of neglected tropical diseases in member countries and invited expert presentations mainly on regional policy for NTDs. The second day will consist of a series of presentations of up-to-date epidemiological data with a focus on the results from the IDRC funded “Lawa” EcoHealth project in N-E Thailand, and round-table discussions on research network capacity building for NTDs in the region. This discussion will additionally include the integration of the intervention strategy of the IDRC project into local surveillance systems and control programs. Poster sessions of related research from researchers and graduate students in the region will run simultaneously for the whole 2 days. The third day will consist of a one-day on-site training session on the EcoHealth approach to academic research using Northeast Thailand’s Lawa model. The training session will be held in a liver fluke endemic area and include the demonstration of the control model applied in a bona fide local setting. There will also be a training workshop on “Geospatial Techniques for Public Health” on that day. 

Appendix 1:13th RNAS+ Agenda