Message from the Co-ordinator
Thank you for visiting the website of the
International Collaboration on Gonococci – the ICG. This informal collaboration
provides a focus and resource for those with an interest in the control of
gonorrhoea through the application of laboratory-based approaches. The
particular areas of interest of the ICG are laboratory diagnosis of gonococcal
disease, typing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and surveillance of
antimicrobial resistance in the gonococcus.
The website has further details of the
origins, membership and meeting history of the ICG, but it is an informal and
voluntary group of diverse health professionals, mostly with scientific,
medical and public health backgrounds. Membership is free (contact Magnus
Unemo: and communication is by electronic means that include a web-based
network kindly provided by the Canadian public health system.
The ICG grew out of many years of informal
professional contacts. Originally interest was centred on anti-microbial
resistance surveillance and there was substantial interaction with the World
Health Organization aimed at establishing a global system for this purpose.
This ambition was never realised, but the original and now expanded aims of
this project survive in the ICG and links are maintained with the WHO mapping
facility on this site.
A number of individuals have contributed
significantly to the formation and maintenance of the ICG over many years.
Particular mention is made of personnel at The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta, groups in several
institutions in Canada and
the United Kingdom, and the
State Serum Institute in Copenhagen.
Apart from
electronic links between members, the ICG tries to meet at relevant
international conferences. So far these have been principally at the
International Society for STD Research (ISSTDR) and the International
Pathogenic Neisseria Congress (IPNC). These meetings are mostly held
bi-annually in Europe or North America. The
web site has links to these organisations and a record of ICG discussions at
these meetings.
All ICG members have other full-time
occupations, and time that can be devoted to the ICG activities is therefore
constrained. Despite this limitation, the ICG has some significant achievements
as a group and from its individual members. These may also be found on this
web-site.
If you have an interest in some or all of
the aims of the ICG you are warmly encouraged to participate in its activities.
Best wishes
John Tapsall
Co-ordinator ICG
j.tapsall@unsw.edu.au