Spain

Professor Manuel Cuenca-Estrella, Head of the Spanish National Center for Microbiology.

Ambassador 1 : Professor Manuel Cuence-Estrella, Head of the Spanish National Center for Microbiology. Madrid, Spain. email

 View the Fungal burden of disease in Spain: Rodriguez Tudela, Clin Microbiol Infect 2015

Personal comment on the major needs in Spain which GAFFI should be addressing:

Assessing the frequency of some fungal diseases such as chronic pulmonary aspergillosis and keratitis, without data so far
Periodical population-based surveillance of deep mycosis (candidosis, aspergillosis and emerging mycosis)
Analyzing the prevalence of fungal diseases (cryptococcosis, histoplasmosis, pneumocystosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, subcutaneous diseases…) in immigrant population largely from Africa and South-America
Some diagnostic deficiencies such as unavailability of appropriate tests in some centers
Lack of trained personnel to undertake diagnostic tests
Lack of harmonization and standardization/validation of some diagnostic tools
Lack of trained personnel to prescribe the most adequate treatments
Low prioritization of fungal infection by many healthcare organizations

 Links to key fungal/global health institutions in Spain: Asociación Española de Micología: www.aemicol.org Grupo de Estudio de Micología Médica de la Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica: www.seimc.org; Revista Iberoamericana de Micología: www.reviberoammicol.com

Dr Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo, Research Scientist, National Centre for Microbiology, Madrid

Ambassador 2 : Dr Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo, Research Scientist, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. email

View the Fungal burden of disease in Spain Rodriguez Tudela, Clin Microbiol Infect 2015

How you have helped GAFFI I have helped in the estimation of the national burden of disease. I helped in the documentation presented to the WHO to include itraconazole in the List of Essential Medicines. I have written fungal descriptions for LIFE webpage. I have promoted GAFFI in my country through the National societies (AEM, SEM and SEIMC), social networks and media and internationally through the Young-ISHAM community. In addition I am part of the GAFFI team working in the Guatemala demonstration project.

Personal comment on the major needs in Spain which GAFFI should be addressing:

• Periodic epidemiological studies (funded by the government, currently published studies have been funded by pharmaceutical companies)
• Trained professionals in Medical Mycology since most microbiologist at the hospitals lack proper knowledge of fungal infections
• More funds for research on Fungal Infections specially for translational research
• Monitor antifungal resistance
• Develop a network of centers with experts in medical mycology across the country to validate diagnostic tools, perform clinical trials, write consensus guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections, etc.
• Develop a register of proven fungal infections cases in the country
• Develop and maintain a collection of clinical samples and fungal strains, with clinical data, to be available for the validation of new techniques
• Develop and standardize the diagnosis and treatment of ABPA and CPA.

 Links to key fungal/global health institutions in Spain: Ministerio de Sanidad (Ministry of Health) www.msssi.gob.es