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A health school has been launched in Scotland aimed at tackling two of the most common diseases in developing world.
The Global Health Academy at Edinburgh University is looking into solutions to the spread of sleeping sickness and malaria.
Experts in medicine, social sciences and engineering will come together at the centre, using knowledge from their fields to provide practical help to some of the poorest communities in the world.
Pandemic flu, diabetes and obesity will also be studied at the academy, which offers a range of online postgraduate degrees.
Director Professor Sue Welburn said: “The Global Health Academy is an important statement both of the commitment of the University of Edinburgh and of academics and practitioners around the world who are joining us to address global health issues.
“This is a unique opportunity to deliver research-driven education programmes designed to build capacity at a local level.”
Scientists at the University’s Centre for Infectious Diseases are already running a campaign to stamp out sleeping sickness.
The initiative, funded by the UK Department for International Development, involves treating cattle with the disease before it can be passed on to humans via blood-sucking tsetse flies.
Copyright Press Association 2009
Edinburgh University international Development Centre
