Infectious diseases a challenge to development

The 20th Anniversary of the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) was commemorated by a symposium co-organized by AHRI, the Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University and The Ethiopian Medical Doctors' Association. It was held on October 4 and 5, 1990 at the Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The twoday symposium was divided into six sessions which dealt with leprosy in general, control and prevention of leprosy and other communicable diseases, community health, malaria, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. The symposium invited scientists from Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia who presented and discussed papers on various aspects of the above topics. This report will attempt to highlight the central theme of the symposium as seen by three young scientists from different countries connected to AHRI. Dr.Genene Mengistu (Ethiopia) - formerly Counterpart at AHRI - is a lecturer in the Department of Microbiology & Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, and a Research scientist at the Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, Dr.Yahya Ipuge (Tanzania) a lecturer in the Department of Microbiology/Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Dar es Salaam is a holder of the AHRI African Fellowship and Dr.Tobias Rinke de Wit (Netherlands) is a Senior scientist at AHRI.