Waisenmedizin e.V. – PACEM
Promoting Access to Care with Essential Medicine
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Video 1 (3 minutes)
A brief description of what we do and how Waisenmedezin could help underprivileged communities around the world.
Video 2 (21 minutes)
A detailed presentation, what the NGO Waisenmedizin has achieved in the last 20 years.
The non-profit organization Waisenmedizin (Waisenmedizin is the German word for “orphaned medicine”) has developed an inexpensive, effective and easy-to-use “gel” (called LeiProtect TM) that shortens the time until the wound closes caused by cutaneous leishmaniasis from 6-12 months to 1-2 months (approx. 1 million cases worldwide per year).
The results are published in recognized scientific journals.
Orphan medicine – what does that mean?
Orphan diseases in regions with very low incomes, where there is often little research funding and only limited therapeutic options available for such diseases in poverty medicine.
We have specialized in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and have been dealing with it for over 20 years as a team of around 23 members of various academic disciplines (pharmacy, medicine, infectiology, microbiology, chemistry). During this time, we have used field and laboratory research to develop a wound gel that can cause cutaneous leishmaniasis to heal more quickly, can be used by the patient themselves and does not incur high costs.
What is cutaneous leishmaniasis?
An infected sand fly transmits cutaneous leishmaniasis when it bites the skin. The human immune system notices the disease-causing parasites and sends phagocytes (macrophages) to eliminate the parasites. However, the Leishmania parasites can still multiply in the phagocytes after they have been absorbed. Once the phagocytes have rendered most of the parasites harmless, they stimulate new tissue formation. But since the leishmaniasis parasites multiply in the phagocytes, they destroy them. Without healthy phagocytes, wound healing is severely delayed, and lifelong disfiguring scars occur, especially on the face, hands and feet (uncovered skin). Cutaneous leishmaniasis patients die a social rather than physical death similar to leprosy.
An infected sandfly transmits the Leishmania parasites with a bite
Leishmania wound shortly after infection
Scarred Leishmania wound
How many people are affected?
Around 1 million people worldwide are infected every year. Poor families suffer the most, and they are often poorly educated and therefore often work outdoors, where they are exposed to mosquitoes. The map below shows the global cutaneous leishmaniasis distribution.
Map of the distribution of cutaneous leishmaniasis
(main distribution area: tropics & subtropics)
How can we help?
Our product
Our NGO (Waisenmedizin) has developed a wound dressing (gel) that, as proven by scientific studies, causes skin leishmaniasis to heal in 1-2 months instead of 6-12 months if left untreated.
This wound dressing is inexpensive, can be applied by the patient himself, is auto sterile and can be given to the patient in small quantities, for example in plastic syringes (10ml). Filling the syringes from, for example, a 1 liter container directly into the patient's syringe is possible and can even be done in a hospital ward or by a trained layperson.
How does treatment work?
A treatment lasts several weeks and the patient has to apply the gel daily on top of the existing gel. After 1 week he should go to the sick ward. There the 7 layers are washed off with saline solution and a new layer is applied. The patient receives a new syringe for the next 7 days.
Why can't our NGO simply send LeiProtect to the affected countries?
Unfortunately, we cannot send this wound dressing to the affected countries. Because they fear receiving inferior goods, they require that the product proves its good quality with a recognized certificate. In the EU, the CE certificate is required for this. This is linked to standards that must be proven by a testing center through extensive documents. This process costs around 300,000 euros.
Our NGO cannot afford this. We are therefore looking for generous donors or investors who can use our product for other diseases that are covered by health insurance companies in industrialized nations.
An article in the German medical journal, - CL is increasingly occurring in Europe.
Kutane Leishmaniasis – Asylsuchende in Deutschland (Cutaneous Leishmaniasis – Asylum Seekers in Germany):