Bringing Workshops to Africa and Asia
December 1, 2019
We’ve run our previous phage workshops in Africa because that continent is forecasted to experience the highest per capita death rate from antibiotic resistant infections. But developing countries in Asia will also be ravaged by antibiotic resistance, with an estimated 4.7 million deaths expected there each year. Since knowledge about antibiotic alternatives such as phages is urgently needed on both continents, our goal is to expand our work in 2020 to include one phage workshop in Africa and one in Asia.
Thankfully, we've already raised the funds required for the next workshop in Africa, which will take place in Tanzania during January 2020. We're now working to raise the remaining $40,000 needed to deliver the workshop in Asia. Two days from now — on so-called Giving Tuesday, December 3 — we will launch our year-end crowdfunding campaign, and matching funds will be available on that day. Please consider partnering with us then!
Our plan is to hold the Asia workshop in Malaysia where our senior workshop instructor, Prof Martha Clokie, has initiated a research collaboration with Drs Sivachandran Parimannan and Heera Rajandas.
Together, they are developing a phage product to decontaminate food items. This could provide an alternative to antibiotics, which are often used as pesticides — but which can have the unintended consequence of enhancing the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria. This team has successfully tested the phages on tomatoes, cucumbers and chili, and their long-term goal is to decrease human infections from contaminated foods while also minimizing harvest losses.
Please consider supporting the expansion of our work by donating this Tuesday. Phages for Global Health is a registered US non-profit organization, and all contributions are tax deductible.
Thank you!
Tobi Nagel, PhD - President
Karen Erickson - Treasurer
James B. Lin - Secretary
Drs Parimannan and Rajandas visited Prof Clokie and Dr Andrew Millard in the UK
* The organization providing the grant toward the Asia workshop wishes to remain anonymous. We express our sincerest gratitude to those involved!