From Research to Impact: Tackling Female Genital Schistosomiasis

Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is an infection caused by the parasite Schistosoma haematobium, which affects both the urinary and genital tracts. It is contracted through contact with contaminated freshwater, leading to chronic inflammation and lesions in the female reproductive organs. FGS often goes undiagnosed or is mistaken for a sexually transmitted infection, making it one of the most neglected sexual and reproductive health diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. For the millions of women and girls affected by the disease, living with pain, stigma, and silence has long been an unspoken reality.

To help end this silence, ten leading African and European institutions – including Swiss TPH – have joined forces to launch WINGS-4-FGS. With funding from the Global Health EDCTP3 programme of the European Union, this ambitious project is dedicated to reducing the burden of FGS, optimising treatment, and transforming care for women and girls in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, and Malawi.

The mission of WINGS-4-FGS

WINGS-4-FGS is built on the simple yet powerful idea, that, in addition to improving treatment, tackling FGS requires the combined efforts of awareness, innovation, research, and policy change. The project will:

• Raise awareness and reduce stigma through community campaigns and healthcare worker training.
• Innovate diagnosis with new community-based, accessible tools that bring screening closer to women.
• Develop new treatment options by testing the potential of repurposed anti-inflammatory medicines to address the disease manifestations of FGS.
• Integrate FGS care into health systems to ensure sustainability through evidence-based guidelines, policy engagement, and partnerships with ministries of health.

As Amaya Bustinduy, the WINGS-4-FGS Project Coordinator from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine explains: “WINGS-4-FGS is about more than research. It is about giving women a voice, restoring dignity, and making sure that science and action go hand in hand to create lasting change.”

From research to real change

Swiss TPH will support randomised controlled trials investigating the efficacy and safety profiles of two anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac and prednisolone in women affected by FGS. We will work closely with the team in Cote d’Ivoire (Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny) to design and conduct one of the trials. 

“Existing treatments for schistosomiasis do not address the genital manifestations and long-term consequences of female genital schistosomiasis. There is still no dedicated therapy for this debilitating condition, and new drugs are urgently needed. We are therefore very pleased to be part of a project that aims to close this critical gap,” says Jennifer Keiser, Head of the Helminth Drug Development unit at Swiss TPH.

At the heart of WINGS-4-FGS is the conviction that scientific progress and community empowerment must move together. The project’s clinical trials will test new treatment approaches, while its awareness campaigns and training will strengthen local healthcare systems and reduce stigma.

“By combining clinical research, community engagement, and policy advocacy, we have a unique opportunity to change the future of FGS care,” says Margaret Gyapong, WINGS-4-FGS Project Scientific Lead at the Institute of Health Research, University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana. “The impact will extend beyond women’s health alone. Healthier women mean healthier families, stronger communities, and stronger societies.”

About the project

WINGS-4-FGS is coordinated by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with partners including the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale du Zaïre, the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, EURICE – European Research and Project Office, the Institute of Health Research at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, the Association pour la Promotion de la Santé, de l’Intelligence Artificielle et du Numérique, and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

WINGS-4-FGS is co-funded by EDCTP3, the European Union, and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).