International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC)

AU-IBAR is at the forefront of reducing the impact of transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses on the livelihoods and public health of Africans. The prevention, control, and eradication of diseases is achieved through specific networks, platforms, and projects within the framework of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme.

Rationale

Trypanosomiasis severely affects human and livestock health, limiting land use and causing poverty, thereby perpetuating underdevelopment on the continent. The impact of the disease extends over 36 countries and an estimated 10 million sq. km (a third of the continent) of land area. The International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC) was established in the 60s on the realisation that the removal of tsetse and trypanosomiasis required an international organisation that would serve as a vehicle of cooperation and implementation across national, regional and continental barriers. ISCTRC is a statutory council of the African Union with the secretariat at AU-IBAR and is managed by an Executive Committee. It has continued to act as a platform for knowledge sharing and information dissemination on trypanosomiasis research and control.

Membership of the Council

Membership of the council is drawn from Member States, representatives of all international organisations and institutions working in the field of tsetse and trypanosomiasis, institutes in Africa engaged in tsetse and trypanosomiasis, representatives of regional and multilateral projects in Africa, funding and development agencies, and members from other countries (as observers) where research on trypanosomiasis or related subjects is being carried out.

Membership of the Executive Committee

The ISCTRC is managed by an Executive Committee, whose membership comprises two members from each of the four regions: Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa. Others include the Director of AU-IBAR, representatives of FAO, IAEA, WHO, ICIPE, ITC, ILRI, CIRDES, PAAT, and PATTEC. The committee meets annually to organise the biennial scientific conference in addition to carrying out the Council's functions.

ISCTRC Activities

Achievements:

• Biennial scientific conference to evaluate progress sustained since 1949.
• 2007: The ISCTRC Executive Committee recommends all necessary efforts to strengthen the International Trypanotolerance Centre (ITC) in the Gambia.
• 2001: PATTEC launched during the 26th ISCTRC conference in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
• 1999: The European Union funded a regional five-year Farming In Tsetse Controlled Areas (FITCA) project. Launched and implemented by AU-IBAR in 5 countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania.
• 1999: ISCTRC Executive Committee recommendation to Member States and international organisations to consider trypanosomiasis as an emergency contributed to the establishment of PATTEC.
• 1965: OAU (now AU) Heads of State took over the Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa (CCTA) and transformed it into ISCTRC to be funded by Member States.
• 1949: The Permanent Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa South of the Sahara (CCTA), created by international organisations for research and control of trypanosomiasis, held its first meeting in London, UK.

History

Some significant developments and milestones in the history of the ISCTRC:

• 1948: The West African Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research (WAITR) was established in Kaduna, Nigeria.
• 1949: 2^nd – 8^th February International conference in Brazzaville Recommendation to create a Permanent Central Bureau and International Scientific Committee.
• 1949: Establishment of the East African Trypanosomiasis Research Organisation (EATRO) with John Ford as the first Director at Kabete, Kenya.
• 1950: First meeting of the International Scientific Committee. A scientific conference in Johannesburg recommended the establishment of a council for Africa South of the Sahara. EATRO moved from Kenya to Tororo, Uganda.
• 1950: November - Scientific Council for Africa South of the Sahara (CSA) was established as Scientific Adviser to the CCTA to further the application of science to the solution of the African problems.
• 1951: January – establishment of the Commission de Coopération Technique en Afrique au Sud du Sahara (CCTA).
• 1954: 18^th January – Inter-Governmental Agreement signed formalising CCTA.
• 1962: Rinderpest Control Campaign launched under the auspices of CCTA.
• 1963: Creation of the Organisation of African Unity. September- meeting of experts in Lagos.
• 1964: The First Constitution of the ISCTR was published. The Government of Nigeria dissolved WAITR, and the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research (NITR) was established.
• 1965: January 1^st, CCTA to become an organ of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The first meeting of the scientific, technical, and research commission (STRC of the OAU. Decision for the ISCTR to be absorbed as an organ of the STRC.
• 1966: Kissi report recommending Joint Field Campaigns against Trypanosomiasis.
• 1969: November 26 – 27 The Constitution of the ISCTRC was amended at the first meeting of the Executive Committee of the ISCTRC in Lagos, Nigeria.
• 1971: Recommendation that ISCTR be changed to ISCTRC to emphasise the need for control activities. Establishment of the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya.
• 1972: Establishment of the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 1974: World Food Conference in Rome initiated the Programme for the Control of African Animal Trypanosomiasis and Related Development.
• 1975: Establishment of the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD) in Nairobi, Kenya.
• 1977: FAO/OAU/WHO Leadership Training Seminar held in Nairobi in collaboration with ILRAD. Dissolution of EATRO.
• 1978: September 10^th FAO Regional Conference for Africa, Arusha, Tanzania.
• 1979: FAO/OAU/WHO Leadership Training Seminar held in Bobo-Dioulasso with the collaboration of OCCGE. Launching of the Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Information Quarterly.
• 1980: First training courses for middle-level technical personnel at the UNDP/FAO Tsetse Applied Research and Training Project in Zambia.
• 1981: Establishment of the International Trypanotolerance Centre (ITC) in Banjul, The Gambia.
• 1995: Formation of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and subsuming ILCA and ILRAD. Formation of the Programme against African Animal Trypanosomiasis (PAAT).
• 1998: The ISCTRC Executive Committee recommended that the project Planning and implementation (PPI) module of PAAT be incorporated into ISCTRC/IBAR. Establishment of the EU-Funded Concerted Action, a programme to coordinate activities and promote the exchange of information regarding research into African Trypanosomiasis.
• 1999: August -The FITCA project officially launched at the Kenyan Border town of Busia, with the attendance of 4 Ministers and over 100 participants from the Region. September-ISCTRC recommendations of the 25^th ISCTRC Executive Committee warned members to consider trypanosomiasis as an emergency that warranted immediate attention and asked the states and international organisations to give the highest priority to trypanosomiasis control. The Secretariat committed to providing progress on these recommendations that contributed to the establishment of PATTEC at the next meeting.
• 2000: PATTEC Strategic Framework approach by Heads of States, in Lomé, Togo.
• 2001: PATTEC officially launched during the 26^th ISCTRC conference in Burkina Faso.
• 2002: PMC committee for PATTEC established.
• 2003: PATTEC Coordination established in Addis Ababa. The 27th ISCTRC Conference was convened in Pretoria, South Africa.
• 2004: FITCA Project completed in December 2004. The African Development Bank has provided USD 70 million for the PATTEC project in six African countries.
• 2007: The 29^th ISCTRC Conference and 32^nd Executive Committee meeting were held in Luanda, Angola, for the first time to create awareness in one of the countries with the highest number of sleeping sickness cases and allocated a whole day for PATTEC implementing countries to present their progress before the representatives of member states to enable them to join.

• 2009: Commemorated the 60th anniversary of ISCTRC.  Two new products are launched, NECT (Nifurtimox-Eflornithine combination Therapy) to 
  Address emerging drug resistance to Melarsoprol, which has been in use for a long time, with resistance having been reported in several countries and the Field Fluorescent Microscope.

• 2011: The 31st The 31st ISCTRC Conference was held in BAMAKO from September 12 to 16, 2011. The conference acknowledged that a wide variety of tsetse suppression technologies, such as the Sequential Aerosol Technique (SAT), have been developed and tested, and these have proven highly efficient under different ecological conditions. The conference said that the issue of non-testse-transmitted trypanosomiasis should be revisited.

• 2013: A Working Group on non-tsetse transmitted held a side meeting during the 32^nd ISCTRC Conference reflecting the growing significance of non-tsetse trypanosomiasis.

• 2015: Joint 33rd ISCTRC General Conference and the 14th PATTEC National Coordinators meeting. Marked the 15years of PATTEC initiative. Marked by the conference theme of “Bringing all stakeholders together after 15 years of the PATTEC Initiative”  

• 2017: 34th ISCTRC General Conference and the 16th PATTEC Coordinators meeting was held on 15th September 2017

• 2019: 35th ISCTRC General Conference commemorated the 70th year of ISCTRC 

• 2021: The ISCTRC Conference was not held due to Health restrictions in place to curb the COVID-19 Pandemic

• 2023: The 36th ISCTRC Conference call all stakeholders to mobilise concerted efforts and action to relaunch the PATTEC initiative for the effective control and elimination of tsetse and trypanosomiasis in Africa. The AU should renew its efforts to reactivate the PATTEC Coordination Office and its functions to provide coordination and leadership in the implementation of the PATTEC initiative at the continental level.