Kadidia Koulibaly:
If I start, could I finish
Dr. Dorlan Kimbrough:
Rare diseases oftentimes aren’t necessarily priorities when there are so many other things that are more common and get a lot more research funding. Because NMO is relatively uncommon, it causes a lot of suffering, and it’s something that really profoundly affects people’s lives.
Dr. Charfi Chahnez Triki:
We have a big lack, in regards to the statistics for NMO in our region
Dr. Moustapha Ndiaye:
NMO could become a much more focused disease in our activities, in our thoughts and in terms of our research.
Dr. Seydou Doumbia:
We do have about 15 neurologists for about 17 million people.
Dr. Najib Kissani:
We had very few cases reported about NMO, especially in countries and regions where the awareness is not well-accomplished. We should have 26,000 cases in Africa, but unfortunately, here we have just only 260 cases. And since that, we decided to organize the first meeting in Morocco with the support of the Guthy-Jackson Foundation.
Dr. Christian Napon:
This conference is very important because it brings to my attention this pathology which is often under- diagnosed. By multiplying these and by training people, we can form a better approach to these types of pathologies
Dr. Youssoufa Maiga:
We went from a few guests in Marrakech to a conference of more that 300 guests today. All part of Africa are represented here. African countries are beginning to talk to one another and develop the NMO African Network. We have expanded the number of neurologist networks that are interested in NMO
Dr. Seydou Doumbia:
Neuroscientists who has been trained in France, in the U.S., and also in the region, those are our hope for some of the disease.
Dr. Dorlan Kimbrough:
There’s a real spirit and real hunger for a collaboration and for furthering NMO research here. In general, it’s hard to do research with relatively small numbers of patients, and that’s one of the benefits of having the collaboration with the Guthy-Jackson Foundation. Because then, if one group has 40 patients, another group has 10 patients, we can all pool our efforts and try to better understand it that way.
Kadidia Koulibaly:
With my family, with my friends, I bear my disease well. I have no problem.
Dr. Callixte Kuate Tegueu:
These patients are suffering, and we have to diagnose and then help them to find a solution for their problem. So, we should fight for that.