Reportonactivitiesfor2020

Summary

March2021

SummaryFungiaresilentkillers,causingthedeathofover2millionpeopleeveryyear-thismakesfungaldiseaseoneofthetopglobalcausesofdeathaheadofTBandmalaria.Vulnerablepeoplefromcountriesintheglobalsoutharedisproportionatelyaffectedandthoseafflictedwithfungaldiseaseliveinmiseryduetomorbidity, the inability to work and stigma. Limited diagnosis and poor measurement of diseasemorbiditymeansthatthetruescaleoftheproblemisunknown.

GAFFI has been almost theonly global voice for fungal diseases in termsof public and global healthsince2013.GAFFIestimates thatwithmorewidelyavailablediagnosisand treatment, thenumberofdeathscouldgodowntobelow750,000.

GAFFI’sstrategywasrevisedwithanewemphasisonstrongpartnershipsto:1. ActivelyadvocateforEssentialDiagnosticsandAntifungalstobeaccessibleineachcountryas

partofUniversalHealthcare;2. EmpowerandexpandGAFFI’sAmbassadors,startinginAfricaandLatinAmerica;3. Developanopenaccessdatacentreontheburdenofthemostseriousfungaldisease;and4. Facilitate development of AI support products for diagnosis in resource- and healthcare

worker-poorcountries.

• GAFFI organized and lead theworld’s first conference on fungal diseases and health systems inLima,PeruwithPAHOandCDCandthereportwasissuedonJuly1st2020.Thismeeting,inSpanish,wasattended by 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries and developed a 7-point plan to adopt thelatestdiagnostics for fungaldiseasesand integrate thesewithinHIV/AIDS, TBandhospitalprograms.Themeetingalsoaddressedantifungaldrugresistance(AMR)andthenewGLASSprogramoncollectingdataonresistanceinCandidaspp.

• Burden of Serious Fungal Diseases: Six more country burden of fungal disease papers werepublished includingRepublicofCongo,Coted’Ivoire,Kuwait,Oman,Netherlands,andChina.Thefirstannual global incidence estimate of fungal keratitis was published - 1.05-1.40million eyes affected,most that goblind. The first global estimateof invasive aspergillosis incidence complicating chronicobstructive pulmonary disease was published -750,000 – 2,200,000. An estimate of the number ofchildrenwithhairfungalinfection(tineacapitis)inAfricawaspublished–138millionaffected.

• TheWHOacceptedinclusionofAspergillusantigen,AspergillusantibodyandPneumocystisPCRasEssentialDiagnosticsontothe3rdModelListofinvitroDiagnostics,followingGAFFI’sapplication.

• Diagnostic Laboratory Hub in Guatemala: Among newly diagnosed HIV patients, 52.1% of thedeaths were directly attributable to histoplasmosis, tuberculosis or cryptococcosis. At the ClínicaFamiliarLuisAngelGarcia(CFLAG),thebiggestHIVhealthcarefacilityinthenetwork,aremarkablefallin mortality from 25% in 2017 to 16.6% in 2019 was shown. COVID-19 lead to a fall in diagnosticsamples fell 38% between March and August 2020, coincident with a rise in mortality fromopportunisticinfectionsby10.7%to27.3%comparedwith2019.

• FungalNTDs:Newmapsofmycetomaandendemicfungalinfectionswerepublished.

• GAFFI’sAmbassadors’activities:Multipleeducationalprogramsandawarenesshavebeendeliveredin Indonesia, India, Serbia, Hungary, France, Norway, Portugal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and SouthAfrica.