What happens when COVID-19 meets other infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria? Particularly in middle- and low-income countries, this is a relevant question. Nevertheless, multimorbidity, the coexistence of two or more health conditions, is in the field of infectious diseases also a growing challenge for high-income countries. What happens to the human body when it is affected by several infectious diseases? How can scientists advise politics and society on coping with the issue of COVID-19 and multimorbidity? International experts discussed these issues on the occasion of an virtual panel discussion on November 26 2020.

Experts:

• Professor Wondwossen Amogne, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
• Professor Peter Calverley (member of the AMS), Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
•  Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim (member of the ASSAf), Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Durban, South Africa
• Professor Stefan H. E. Kaufmann (member of the Leopoldina), Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany
•  Professor Papa Salif Sow (member of the ANSTS), Dakar, Senegal

The event was moderated by TV journalist and moderator Vivian Upmann, Germany.

Image: Adobe Stock/Jezper

© German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2020