Swiss Tropical Institute
Socinstrasse 57
P.O. Box
CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
Email: d.desavigny@unibas.ch
Phone: +41 61 284 81 60
Fax: +41 61 284 81 05
Clinical and intervention epidemiology covers a broad range of activities, from early phase clinical trials for new drugs or vaccines to large-scale effectiveness trials in countries where diseases are endemic. Developments during the last 2 years have again seen additional weight being given to malaria. Malaria is a major disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, and human and other resources are now being focussed on this high-priority problem, fully in line with the strategic goals of the STI. This concentration has allowed the STI to develop substantial expertise in this field, and enabled it to bid successfully for major international grants. Intervention work has allowed STI staff and their many collaboratorsand collaborating institutions to participate directly in improving the health status of millions of individuals in resource poor countries, in line with the mandate of the institute. For a number of interventions, internal collaboration with the Swiss Centre for International Health has provided professional expertise in the implementation of clinical trials and large-scale health programmes. With this strong management capacity, STI staff have been able to carry out high-quality intervention research on a scale undertaken by few other similar institutions.
