Hirsch Institute for Tropical Medicine

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The Hirsch Institute for Tropical Medicine is an institute for medical research and training in Asella in the state of Oromia in central Ethiopia . It was officially opened in 2013 as a branch of the Clinic for Gastroenterology , Hepatology and Infectiology of the University Hospital Düsseldorf and the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf by Dieter Häussinger , the director of the clinic and the institute. With 25 German and Ethiopian employees, it offers a platform for tropical medical , infectious, parasitological and hepatological research on an international level, serves to train Ethiopian and German doctors, scientists, medical students and other staff, and as a basis for development cooperation . The activities are carried out in close cooperation with the Arsi University in Asella, Ethiopia and the Asella Teaching Hospital , the university's teaching hospital.

History and origin of the institute

The decision to found the institute as a branch of the Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases of the University Hospital Düsseldorf on the premises of the medical faculty of the Adama Science and Technology University in Asella was taken in 2009. During a visit by Dieter Häussinger to Ethiopia , a letter of intent was signed together with the President of the Ethiopian University, Eichele, the then Education Minister of Ethiopia, D. Mekonnen, and the German Vice Ambassador to Ethiopia, M. Biontino. The construction of the institute was supported by a donation from the namesake Wolfgang Hirsch. After signing a cooperation agreement and after a three-year construction phase, the institute was officially opened in 2013. After the founding of the Arsi University in the cities of Asella and Bekoji in 2015 with the connection of the medical faculty in Asella, the cooperation agreement was transferred to this new university. The Asella Teaching Hospital , a hospital attached to the Medical Faculty as a teaching hospital, serves as a regional supply center for the Arsi Zone , an area with approx. 3.5 million inhabitants. There are specialist departments for internal medicine , gynecology including obstetrics , paediatrics and general surgery, an HIV / AIDS outpatient department, and other specialist outpatient departments. The institute was built on the premises of the Medical Faculty and in the immediate vicinity of the Asella Teaching Hospital .

Equipment of buildings and laboratories

German and Ethiopian scientists and doctors work at the institute. The work is supported on site by a team of study nurses , laboratory assistants and administrative assistants. The building combines examination rooms, laboratories, a seminar room and offices. The equipment includes, among other things, equipment for clinical examinations such as sonography , elastography or critical flicker frequency analysis, laboratory analyzes such as point-of-care diagnostics, hematological , blood chemistry or molecular biological test methods as well as various immunological, parasitological or microbiological examination methods, including bacterial culture methods and resistance analysis . Safe laboratory work and reliable storage of study samples at –80 ° C are made possible by a separate water tank and an emergency power supply via diesel generators . The institute has two off-road vehicles available for field work and supply trips.

research

The focus of clinical and translational research is in the area of ​​hepatological, infectious and tropical medicine studies. Research focuses on the subjects of chronic liver diseases , tuberculosis , sepsis , antibiotic resistance , intestinal parasitoses in HIV , the epidemiology of various infectious diseases and resistance to antiretroviral therapy .

Teaching

The institute offers a platform for the training of Ethiopian and German students, doctors and scientists. Medical students, doctoral students and doctors from Germany are given training in tropical medicine . Exchange programs, scientific and medical training on site and in Germany as well as regular practical training and courses at the institute and in the medical faculty support the medical and scientific further education of Ethiopian academics. In this context, the training of young Ethiopian scientists takes place within the framework of an international PhD program. As part of a university and clinic partnership of the ESTHER initiative (Ensemble pour une Solidarité Thérapeutique Hospitalière En Réseau) , training and further education are provided in the areas of mother-child health, hospital hygiene and patient safety .

Others

In September 2014, Häussinger and his staff at the institute were awarded the Medical-Humanitarian Prize of the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Foundation for the activities for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in the Arsi region of Ethiopia . On the initiative of the Tropical Institute, the German organization “Technik ohne Grenzen” (Erlangen local group) built an incinerator for potentially infectious hospital waste on the premises of the hospital in Asella in 2016 . Donors such as the Rotary Club Düsseldorf Süd made it possible to equip the institute with equipment such as the powerful emergency power generator or various laboratory devices.

Web links

literature

  • Dieter Häussinger: The Hirsch Institute for Tropical Medicine in Asella, Ethiopia . dup, Düsseldorf 2016, ISBN 978-3957580412 .