Cutaneous Leishmaniasis patient

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected tropical disease that often affects people in low-income regions. These areas typically have limited research funding and treatment options for such diseases, making them a focus within the field of poverty medicine.

For over 20 years, our dedicated team of 23 professionals from various disciplines has been specialising in CL.

Through extensive research, both in the lab and in the field, we've developed a wound gel specifically designed to improve the wound care of CL. This cost-effective and user-friendly gel can be self-administered by patients.

CL is a disease spread by infected sandflies. When these sandflies bite human skin, they transmit parasitic Leishmania organisms. The body's immune system dispatches white blood cells called macrophages to fight the parasites.

Unfortunately, Leishmania can multiply even within these macrophages. While macrophages can eventually neutralize most parasites, the ongoing presence of Leishmania weakens and destroys them. Without healthy macrophages, wound healing stalls, leading to chronic sores and disfiguring scars, particularly on exposed areas like the face, hands, and feet.

While not directly fatal, CL has a devastating social impact, causing isolation and stigma similar to leprosy.

Our mission centers on neglected diseases – those overlooked by pharmaceutical research due to the lack of sustainable return of investments.

WM-D e.V. has a strong track record of patient-oriented missions in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA) region.

Since our founding in 2000, we were engaged in countries like Afghanistan (2002-2014), Pakistan (2006), Algeria (2013-2018), Iran (2014), and Syria (2016).

Our strength lies in the expertise of our 23 members. This dedicated group comprises doctors, pharmacists, chemists, lawyers, health economists, clergy, scientists, and students.

What unites us is a fundamental belief: that medicines and medical devices should prioritise patient well-being above all else.

In 2013, inspired by our commitment to promoting access to care with essential medicines (PACEM), we partnered with a sister organisation in Switzerland – Waisenmedizin-CH (WM-CH).

Both WM-D e.V. and WM-CH operate under the same core principles, outlined in our respective statutes.

Since 2022, surgical specialists from Spain and Afghanistan have been working in a large group practice on doctorates on the use of LeiProtect for chronic wounds of various origins (including varicose and diabetic ulcers).

We sensitise European policymakers to the idea that the right to education and self-supporting work is a human right to equality in access to basic health care. They should understand that this human right is crucial for human dignity and for the establishment of social cohesion and peace in communities. This right is set out in Articles 11 (The right to health protection) and 13 (The right to social and medical support) of the 1996 European Social Charter.

We help foreign doctors qualify as doctoral students at European universities. Our experience has shown us that our personal investment in the careers of these young academics has motivated them to act as multipliers of German-Swiss research opportunities upon their return to their home countries. However, there are also countries abroad to which such a return to their home country is currently not possible for political reasons. So we help them as much as possible with their integration into the EU. Foreign students have repeatedly used our connections, particularly in the departments of Pharmacy and Chemistry, to write final theses (Bachelor/Master) on the subject area (Syria, Iran, Turkey).