On 16 June 2022, Wolaita Sodo University (WSU) and the National Institute for Parasitic Diseases (NIPD) – Center for Tropical Diseases Research (CTDR), which is under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), jointly co-organized “Ethiopia-China Virtual Symposium on Cooperation on Research of Tropical Diseases”.
Ambassador Teshome Toga attended the virtual symposium and expressed his delight to witness WSU and NIPD-CTDR co-organizing the symposium shortly after they launched their partnership and noted that this speaks volume to their dedication and commitment to the partnership they have. Furthermore, he highlighted on the two countries strong bilateral diplomatic ties that has continued to this day for more than half a century and that it has been elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership (CSCP) level in 2017.
Adding that collaboration in the medical and health sector is one of the major nine priority goals put forth at the 8th Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) ministerial Conference held in Dakar, Senegal last year, he expressed Ethiopia’s keen interest to strength its cooperation with China in these regards. Moreover, the Ambassador said that he has high hopes that the cooperation between Wolaita Sodo University and the NIPD-CTDR will have a very practical significance in the prevention and control of tropical diseases, especially for a country like Ethiopia.
Finally, he called on the two institutions to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in scientific research, students and staff training and exchange programs, creation of joint research facilities and to continue organizing more joint scientific and scholarly symposiums in the future.
