La Isla Network researchers will participate in the fourth international workshop of the Consortium for the Epidemic of Nephropathy in Central America and Mexico (CENCAM). The workshop will take place in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala from February 14-16, at the Agency for International Development Cooperation of Spain (AECID).
CENCAM is an international group of researchers and clinicians whose mission is to increase international collaboration for the exploration and research of Mesoamerican Nephropathy, also known as chronic kidney disease of unknown cause (CKDu) or chronic kidney disease of nontraditional etiology (CKDnt).
Present at the workshop will be multiple La Isla Network researchers. Nate Raines, partner researcher and LIN board member, is co-chair of CENCAM. He will be leading the “Causality” Working Group.
LIN Lead Epidemiologist Dr. Catharina (Ineke) Wesseling will also be present at the workshop. In 2012, as the Regional Director of SALTRA, a PAHO project focused on workers’ health and sustainable development, Dr. Wesseling facilitated and organized the first International Workshop on Mesoamerican Nephropathy in Costa Rica. From that effort CENCAM was established.
She said, “After 12 years, it is wonderful to see LIN chairing many of the key sessions. There have been great advancements in understanding the drivers of the disease, specifically regarding occupational heat stress as a main driver of the epidemic among heavy laborers. More importantly, recent and coming publications clearly show that prevention is possible through improved occupational health practices. During this fourth conference I hope to contribute in translating scientific evidence for policymakers so that adequate steps are taken to end this preventable disease in Mesoamerica.”
LIN partner researcher Dr. David Wegman will co-chair the working group on Analytical Epidemiology. Its purpose is to address how to do the best possible studies and how to answer the most outstanding questions about the natural history of CKDu in occupational and community groups.
Dr. Wegman will present a poster on the progress on our study of implementation effectiveness for a Rest-Shade-Hydration-Hygiene intervention for sugarcane agricultural workers. “Important lessons have been learned as the success of the intervention has matured. We report on the first four years of the ongoing study of workers engaged in job tasks that have different physical demands,” he said.
La Isla Network generates data-driven organizational change management and workforce protection protocols to address occupational injuries and illnesses and labor issues throughout the entire supply chain. In the changing climate, workers are more at risk than they ever have been. Heat stress, trafficking, forced labor, and child labor are often interconnected. They pose ever greater risks to workers and businesses. We understand this and address this. Through our world class global research, La Isla Network has learned what it takes to keep workers safe.
To learn more about the work La Isla Network does to protect workers from heat stress, please email us at in**@la***********.org.
