EURICE Joins WINGS-4-FGS: Transforming Women‘s and Girls‘ Health Across Sub-Saharan Africa

For millions of women and girls across sub-Saharan Africa, living with pain, stigma, and silence has been an unspoken reality. Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), a neglected disease caused by parasitic infection, affects an estimated 50 million women and girls, with another 150 million at risk. Despite its devastating impact including infertility, pregnancy complications, increased HIV risk, and social exclusion, FGS remains largely invisible in medical curricula, public health programmes, and global health priorities.

At EURICE, we are pleased to be part of the newly launched African-European research project WINGS-4-FGS dedicated to tackling FGS. Funded by the Global Health EDCTP3 programme of the European Union, WINGS-4-FGS is a pioneering initiative working in Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, and Malawi. It brings together 10 partners from Africa and Europe built on a simple but powerful idea: that in addition to improving treatment, tackling FGS requires awareness, innovation, research, and policy change working hand in hand. 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, testing the potential of repurposed anti-inflammatory medicines to address the disease manifestations of FGS.
• Integrate FGS care into health systems, ensuring sustainability through evidence-based guidelines, policy engagement, and partnerships with ministries of health.

Alongside The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in the UK with the role of project coordination and the Institute of Health Research, University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana as project scientific lead, EURICE is responsible for project management as well as communication, dissemination, and exploitation of results.

Health Innovation Ecosystems in Action

For EURICE, WINGS-4-FGS is more than a project, it is a clear example of how health innovation ecosystems can potentially create lasting impact. By combining scientific excellence, community engagement, and policy dialogue, the consortium is laying the foundation for solutions that are not only effective, but also sustainable.

By starting at the level of individuals and communities, the project shows how meaningful change can be achieved collectively – in policy, in healthcare systems, and ultimately across society. WINGS-4-FGS demonstrates how collaboration and innovation can directly improve lives while creating pathways for lasting, long-term impact.

As WINGS-4-FGS begins its journey, EURICE is proud to contribute to a project that embodies our values of collaboration, sustainability, and impact. By addressing FGS, the consortium is not only improving the health and dignity of women and girls but also strengthening communities and societies. This is innovation with visible impact: connecting the dots between research, communities, and policy.

Learn more on our brand new website.