Submitted by GAtherton on 29 August 2017
Serious fungal infections are a major problem worldwide with an annual burden close to 15 million people per year and nearly 2 million deaths.
Barriers to more effective treatment of serious fungal infections include poor funding for diagnostics and treatment, poor training, poor awareness and lack of availability of facilities and effective antifungal drugs in many developing countries.
In Africa the death toll is highest from fungal infection compared with anywhere else in the world (600,000 – 1 million deaths: more dying from fungal infection than die from malaria) so it is particularly encouraging that the world’s first global research centre for fungal diseases is to be based in Africa in the University of Cape Town, South Africa (UCT) in close collaboration with Aberdeen Fungal Group in Scotland, UK. The Aberdeen Fungal Group are world leaders in the research into fungal disease and have had their research expertise recognised recently by the UK Medical Research Council, providing funding for the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology to be based in Aberdeen.
The opening of the new AFGrica unit in South Adrica in conjunction with UCT provides an ideal partnership between a continent with a huge need for research into serious fungal disease with UK centres of expertise in diagnostics and treatment.
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