The tireless fight to eradicate yaws
Doctor Oriol Mitjà today receives the Alfonso Comín Prize for his work against a forgotten tropical illness
Yaws is a forgotten disease suffered by the poorest people on the planet, which is why we do not see it in the hospitals of the West. To find out exactly what it is you need to travel a long way. And that is precisely what Doctor Oriol Mitjà did (Arenys de Mar, 1980) in 2010.
He went to work on the island of Lihir, in Papua New Guinea, to learn about an epidemic caused by a bacterium that causes ulcers such as leprosy and in advanced stages ends up deforming the bones and preventing walking. Two years after his arrival he had made an exceptional discovery: a single tablet of azithromycin, which is used to treat otitis, is much more effective in curing the illness than the injectable penicillin that had been used up to that date.
His discovery was published in the prestigious magazine The Lancet and the WHO appointed him adviser in the fight against forgotten tropical diseases. Mitjà continues to work passionately on the island of Lihir, but this afternoon he will be at Barcelona City Hall to collect the Alfonso Comín International Award in recognition of his work.
“Recognition is important from the point of view of giving visibility to a cause, but in this case I share the ideals of justice and ethics that Comín defended and also the idea that you have to be near those in need”.
These are not mere words. Mitjà works tirelessly to meet the challenge set by the WHO: the eradication of yaws by 2020. “We have the tools to make it possible and it would be the second disease to be eradicated after smallpox,” the specialist explains.
In the fifties, yaws affected some 90 tropical countries. Now, only 13 or 14 are reported to have it. The advantage of the pill is that “it’s very cheap and takes just a single shot to cure you,” Mitjà says.