Karel Styblo
Karel Styblo (* 1921 in Czechoslovakia ; † March 13, 1998 ) was a Dutch medic, known for campaigns to combat tuberculosis .
In 1945, Styblo fell seriously ill with tuberculosis in the Mauthausen concentration camp . He then devoted himself to tuberculosis research and control. He developed methods for this as an assistant and in collaboration with the professor at Edinburgh University John Crofton , with whom he studied in the 1950s, consisting of a daily dose of several drugs and close monitoring (the original DOTS protocol). Using these methods, they were able to successfully reduce tuberculosis in Scotland, which was previously a leading cause of youth deaths, in just six years. In 1966 he became Scientific Director of the Tuberculosis Surveillance Research Unit (TSRU) and he worked for the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD).
He tested the DOTS strategy (for Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course) to combat tuberculosis in Tanzania in 1978, with cure rates increasing from 40 percent to over 80 percent, and then implemented it in other countries in Africa, Asia and South America. The WHO officially adopted the strategy in 1995 ( Stop TB Use Dots ). In 1990, on behalf of the World Bank, he started a campaign against tuberculosis in Hebei Province in China with such great success (cure rates up to 94%) that it was extended to other parts of the country with the support of the World Bank.
In 1971 he became a Dutch citizen .
In 1982 he received the Robert Koch Medal .
Fonts
- Epidemiology of Tuberculosis , VEB Gustav Fischer. Jena 1984, 2nd edition, The Hague
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Styblo, Karel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch medic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Czechoslovakia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 13, 1998 |