Some 25 tropical and vector borne diseases occur with sufficient frequency to be considered major threats to public health. Their impacts are felt not only in illness and premature death but in lost productivity, economic loss and depressed development.

Malaria is perhaps the leading cause of illness in the tropics. With 600 million people at risk to infection, malaria kills some 1-2 million children each year in sub Saharan Africa alone. With 200 to 300 million people infected, the snail borne disease, schistosomiasis is a major contributor to illness in more than 70 countries.

River Blindness, dengue fever, Rift Valley Fever and Japanese Encephalitis occur with regularity and while not strictly tropical, the impact of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and children’s diseases such as tetanus, pneumonia and meningitis are felt disproportionately by residents of tropical countries.

Our Approach

The resources to combat illness in the tropics are as limited as the sources of infection are plentiful. Annual per capita expenditures of $3.00 for all health initiatives are the norm in Africa with most going for salaries and medicines. Combining resources, integrating programs, cross training personnel, promoting community participation are all tools to derive the most value from health dollars. MSCI helps health personnel in the tropics to use of all of these tools to combat illness and promote health. For more than 15 years in more than 50 countries MSCI has helped institutions to:

• Assess the nature and epidemiology of major causes of morbidity and mortality Develop Plans that are adapted to local problems, conditions and resources
   
• Analyze the costs of control options relative to disease impact costs
   
• Train management and technical staff to work within primary health care environments
   
• Design Information Systems for guiding interventions and deploying resources
   
• Develop Environmentally Sound control programs
  Build Partnerships between governments, communities, NGOs and the private sector

Our Accomplishments

• Implemented the USAID Vector Biology and Control Project that designed and implemented disease control programs in 43 countries
   
• Implemented a 10-year research program to improve the capabilities of the Government of Egypt to control Schistosomiasis, which infected 20% of the country’s population
   
• Developed decentralized programs for the control of malaria and other communicable diseases in Kenya, Indonesia, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and El Salvador
   
• Implemented training programs for managers, physicians and paramedical workers engaged in community based primary health and disease control programs in Swaziland, Syria, Sudan, Botswana, Myanmar, El Salvador, Chad and Equatorial Guinea.