Invisible Realities: Art, Politics and Conflict – A Fight Against Neglected Tropical Diseases
Art meets global health: Exhibition and panel discussion in Hamburg
More than a billion people worldwide live with diseases that could be prevented or treated – if access to healthcare, clean water and political commitment were not lacking. Neglected Tropical Diseases primarily affect people living in extreme poverty. They cause chronic illness, disability and social exclusion, and reinforce cycles of poverty.
To highlight this often overlooked global injustice, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) is hosting an evening event in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt on 30 January 2026 at 6 p.m., marking World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day.
Invisible realities: art against stigmatisation
Many of these diseases could be prevented or treated. However, international cuts in health budgets and ongoing conflicts restrict acces to care for those affected. In a panel discussion, experts from science, politics and international organisations will address these challenges.
Alongside the discussion, an accompanying art exhibition will open, bringing personal perspectives into focus. The exhibition presents works from a global art project by the German Society for Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Global Health (DTG) in collaboration with Ethiopian artist Solomon Kifle. The artworks convey, with striking clarity, how people living with neglected tropical diseases experience stigma, illness and daily struggle.
Guests on the podium
The discussion will be moderated by science journalist Christiane Löll. Speakers on the podium will include:
- Prof. Dr. Jürgen May, Chairman of the BNITM, German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF)
- Jennifer Seel, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
- Dr. Jutta Reinhard-Rupp, NGO FIND (Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics)
- Melissa Scharwey, NGO Doctors Without Borders
Event details
When?
Friday, 30 January 2026, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Where?
1000 Satellites, Speicherstadt Hamburg
Am Sandtorkai 27
Advance registration is not necessary.
The event is financially supported by the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF).
Key facts
Contact person
PhD Daniela Fusco
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Phone : +49 40 285380-504
Email : fusco@bnitm.de
Pia Rausche
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Email : pia.rausche@bnitm.de
BNITM Press
Phone : +49 40 285380-264/269
Email : presse@bnitm.de
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