GPs Head for Africa as Tropical Diseases Increase; Doctors Study Malaria and Typhoid as More Tourists Get Exotic Ailments

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Byline: Catherine Evans

WELSH doctors are signing up to study tropical diseases in Africa after a sharp rise in the number of patients struck down with illnesses like malaria and typhoid.

Tropmedex, founded by tropical medicine expert Kay Schaefer in 1995, organises two-week round-trip training courses to various teaching hospitals, outpatient clinics and research projects in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

According to Dr Schaefer, who is a consultant in tropical medicine and travellers' health, cases of malaria and other tropical diseases are becoming increasingly common in hospitals in Wales, but are often misdiagnosed because doctors fail to spot the symptoms.