In April myself and two colleagues, Andrew Dorman and Krisztina Csortea, are running the San Francisco Rock n' Roll Half Marathon to raise money for the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or “snail fever”, is a parasitic disease carried by fresh water snails infected with one of the five varieties of the parasite Schistosoma. Found predominantly in tropical and sub-tropical climates, schistosomiasis infects 258 million people in as many as 78 countries, with approximately 90% of the burden occurring in Africa.

Schistosomiasis ranks second only to malaria as the most common parasitic disease. However, is the most deadly neglected tropical disease (NTD), killing an estimated 280,000 people annually.

The Schistosomiasis Control Initiative , based at Imperial College London, is an incredibly effective charity working to provide treatment to millions of people every year. SCI assists Ministries of Health across sub-Saharan Africa to control and then eliminate schistosomiasis and STH from their population utilising the World Health Organization’s Drug Donation Programme for praziquantel and albendazole. 230 million people, one-third of the total population of Africa, need a regular annual treatment of praziquantel, and 400 million people need a regular annual treatment of albendazole, to eliminate these parasitic diseases from their bodies.

Please give whatever you can to support our run, even the smallest amount can contribute significantly to the work of SCI!