The University of Turin and Brasil: Together Against Leprosy and Poverty

In February 1997 a scientific and didactic convention was signed among University of turin and trhee Brasilian Institutes to collaborate in order to identifly, prevent and treat the problems related with poverty and malnutrition, starting from leprosy. Teachers and Researchers of the four Institutions identify common problems and draw up common research projects; for the moment, projects are conducted in the field of Medicine and Agronomy. In each project, there is the opportunity for Students, Residents and Teachers both from brazil and Italy to improve their academic formation and to collaborate in research and teaching for a limited period in the other Country, trying to increase and develop the knowledge. Students and young researchers are supported by fellowships of the University of Turin as well as by EU projects. The Medicine Faculty started from leprosy, or, better, Hanseniasis, a pathology still very diffused world- wide and spreading, directly correlated to poverty and malnutrition. For this reason, the Agronomic Faculty is focusing its efforts to development of new techniques and methods for improving the agro-food production in the Mato Grosso do Sul where agriculture remains the main activity and can represent, especially for the poorest people, the way to survive