Three personnel from the Navy Entomology Center of Excellence (NECE), Jacksonville, Florida participated in the 44th World Congress of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM) held in Brussels, Belgium September 5 - 9.
The ICMM was founded over 100 years ago in the grave aftermath of World War One by two medical experts - Belgian Major General Jules Voncken and U.S. Navy Captain William S. Bainbridge, who recognized the importance of closer, global cooperation between the armed forces medical services.
This legacy continues today, evolving from the original eight founding nations, and culminating in this year’s engagement with over 268 personnel from 32 militaries, including Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Vietnam, Ghana, Nigeria, Georgia, Ukraine, India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
The NECE attendees were extremely energized by the level of global cooperation and engagement at the event, and plan on sharing their experience with fellow Navy entomologists.
“NECE provides critical but highly specialized operational support, so I was grateful to meet with this global network and discuss how innovations and integration across our and other specialties can improve delivery of comprehensive force health protection,” Lt. j.g. Sierra Schluep, NECE Testing and Evaluation Department Head.
NECE personnel shared recent developments in warfighter protection technologies, such as more durable and longer-lasting insecticide treated netting, updates to NECE’s Insecticide Resistance Response System (IRRS), and ruggedized, field-portable insecticide resistance testing kits.
“NECE is uniquely poised to evaluate, develop, and deploy both in-house and commercial solutions to the mission-stopping threat of vector-borne diseases,” said Lt. Cmdr. James Dunford, NECE Assistant OIC. “The surge in partner military interest in this topic shows that the US Navy continues to be a resilient team-builder around the globe.”
Although the central focus of ICMM remains firmly rooted in mil to mil cooperation, this year’s invited participants also included representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the World Veterinary Association (WVA). One of the highlights for the NECE team was discussions with Ghanaian Armed Forces Surgeon Captain Edward Nyarko on deepening long-established collaborations and looking over the horizon to what future challenges may lay ahead.
“We’ve teamed up with the Ghanaian military for decades, including helping establish the Ghana Armed Forces Entomology Center of Excellence (GECE) in 2021,” said Cmdr. Ian Sutherland, NECE OIC. “I’m thrilled by the opportunity to continue the work with GECE and grow our partnerships in this and other regions.”
NECE is a field activity of the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC), Portsmouth, Va. NMCPHC develops and shapes public health for the U.S. Navy and Marines Corps through health surveillance, epidemiology and analysis, disease and injury prevention, and public health consultation. Learn more by going to www.nmcphc.med.navy.mil. Follow NMCPHC on social media at: https://www.facebook.com/NavyAndMarineCorpsPublicHealthCenter http://twitter.com/nmcphc and https://www.instagram.com/nmcphc/
| Date Taken: | 09.15.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2022 10:15 |
| Story ID: | 429373 |
| Location: | BRU, BE |
| Web Views: | 140 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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