Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report—Neglected Tropical Diseases

Ugandan Government Announces $3M Plan To Fight Nodding Disease

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:29:46 GMT

"The growing threat of nodding disease and increased pressure for action has spurred the Ugandan government to announce a $3 million (USD) plan to address the mystery illness," Global Health Frontline News reports, adding, "Initial funds will be used to set up screening centers and treat those affected in Pader, Kitgum, and Lamwo districts in northern Uganda as early as this month."

Partnerships, Cooperation Key To Eliminating NTDs

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:15:00 GMT

The announcement at the end of January of the largest coordinated effort to fight neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) provides "more reason to hope that we may soon see a future free of these diseases," Adetokunbo Lucas, former director of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, writes in a Daily Monitor opinion piece. "This new coordinated action will take these previous efforts to a whole new level," he writes, adding, "Together, these partners have pledged to increase the supply of existing drugs and invest and collaborate on research to accelerate the development of new and better drugs."

Water And Sanitation Sector Must Speak Up To Be Included In NTD Eradication Efforts

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:57:04 GMT

Applauding the signing of the so-called "London Declaration on NTDs" by a consortium of public and private partners last week, Ned Breslin, CEO of Water For People, writes in this Huffington Post "Impact" opinion piece, "I am saddened by the emphasis on vaccines and medicines as the seemingly only vehicles to eradicate NTDs by London Declaration signatories. And I wonder where water, sanitation and hygiene are in this mix, as by all accounts it is not anywhere to be seen in the NTD eradication initiative."

Experts Discuss Benefits Of Combining Deworming, School Feeding Programs At Meeting With U.K. Parliament

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:44:00 GMT

This post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog reports on an event held on Wednesday in London during which John Kufuor, former president of Ghana and winner of the 2011 World Food Prize, addressed the U.K. Parliament "about how school feeding programs can help millions of people currently living in poverty." According to the blog, "In coordination with [the Partnership for Child Development (PCD)] and Deworm the World, the Global Network shared information at the event about combining deworming efforts with school feeding programs in order to strengthen agriculture, health and education programs," noting, "Parasitic worm infections often undermine existing school feeding programs by causing malnutrition and anemia even in children who are well-fed" (2/9).

More Collaborative, Flexible Approach Needed To Combat NTDs

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:33:20 GMT

"To tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), we need a far more collaborative and flexible approach," Mark Booth, acting deputy director of Durham University's Wolfson Research Institute and head of the N8 Parasitology Group, writes in this New Statesman opinion piece. Booth references the publication of new malaria mortality estimates in the Lancet and the signing of the so-called "London Declaration on NTDs" by a consortium of public and private partners last week and writes, "Malaria is not classified as an NTD because relatively large amounts of attention and funding have been pitted against the parasite. But if we now have to rethink malaria control strategies, then how confident can we be about controlling or eradicating any of the 17 NTDs identified by the World Health Organization?"

Economic Transformation In Latin America An Opportunity To Improve NTD Strategies, DNDi Regional Director Says

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:56:00 GMT

"The rise of emerging economies in Latin America is an opportunity to improve strategies for fighting neglected illnesses and increase the region's contribution to the global struggle against them, says" Eric Stobbaerts, the Latin America director of the independent Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Inter Press Service reports. "Our region is going through a major transformation in economic and social terms," Stobbaerts told IPS after a meeting on "Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases" (NTDs) held in London on January 30, "mentioning the progress that has been made in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Mexico," IPS writes.

'Humanosphere' Blog Examines Roles Of Former President Carter, Researcher Foege In Fighting NTDs

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:20:33 GMT

This post in KPLU 88.5's "Humanosphere" blog examines how former President Jimmy Carter gave the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) "a good first shove nearly 30 years ago," writing, "Neglected diseases like river blindness, Guinea worm, parasitic (lymphatic) elephantiasis and schistosomiasis have been in Carter's cross hairs since the mid-1980s." The blog adds, "Few would argue that it has been primarily the work of the Carter Center, carrying on the work of the CDC and others, that has brought the horrible parasitic disease Guinea worm so close to eradication today -- from millions of cases in the 1980s down to a little more than a 1,000 last year." The blog also discusses how William Foege, a former CDC official who is responsible for the smallpox vaccination strategy that helped wipe out the disease, was instrumental in bringing Carter and the Gates family into global health (Paulson, 2/1).

Al Jazeera Speaks With Experts About New NTD Initiative

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:23:07 GMT

Following the announcement on Monday that 13 pharmaceutical companies, several large non-profit organizations, governments, and U.N. agencies are joining forces to fight neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), Al Jazeera's "Inside Story" interviewed several experts in the field, asking, "Why have these diseases been neglected for so long? And how effective will the new plans be to counter these diseases and, in turn, alleviate poverty? Is the target date of 2020 set by the initiative realistic to wipe out some of the world's deadliest conditions? And what is in it for them?" according to the show's summary. Host James Bays discusses these and other issues with guests Tido Von Schoen-Angerer, director of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Access Campaign; Lorenzo Savioli, director of the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases at the WHO; and Mario Ottiglio, associate director of Global Health Policy and Public Affairs at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (2/1).

GSK CEO Speaks About New NTD Public-Private Partnership

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:17:00 GMT

In her "Global Health Blog," Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley speaks with GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty about the year-long efforts to bring together the heads of more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies in a large public-private initiative to control or eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). "In terms of what should this industry be doing preferentially, it should be making available the drugs which nobody else has for people in these countries who suffer from these diseases ... and we should be committing ourselves to discover more, better drugs for the future, and we're doing that today and we're collaborating with others to make it happen quicker," Witty said (1/31).

Opinion Pieces, Blog React To New Public-Private NTD Initiative

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:42:49 GMT

Pharmaceutical company heads and global health leaders gathered at a conference on Monday in London to announce the formation of a large public-private partnership to fight neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and endorse the "London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases" (.pdf), in which they pledged to work together and track progress. The following is a summary of two opinion pieces and a blog post in response to the news.

Large Public-Private Partnership Announced To Speed Progress Against NTDs

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:12:25 GMT

Thirteen pharmaceutical companies; the governments of the U.S., U.K. and United Arab Emirates; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the WHO; the World Bank; the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi); and other global health organizations "announced a new, coordinated push to accelerate progress toward eliminating or controlling 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by the end of the decade," according to a press release (.pdf) from Global Health Strategies. "In the largest coordinated effort to date to combat NTDs," the partners will provide 14 billion doses of medications by the end of the decade and share expertise and products to speed research and development of new drugs, the press release notes.

Access To, Use Of Sanitation Systems Cuts Odds Of Worm Infection In Half, Study Review Shows

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:33:36 GMT

When sanitation systems are available and used, the odds of contracting one of a group of diseases, known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH), is cut in half, according to a systemic review and meta-analysis published this week in PLoS Medicine, Examiner.com reports (Herriman, 1/25). "One billion of the world's people experience a diminished ability to work, learn, and thrive as a result of infection by these parasites -- roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm. The resulting losses in quality of life and productivity can trap people in a cycle of poverty and stigma and diminish their ability to care for themselves and their families," the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog writes.

U.K. Government To Increase NTD Spending Fivefold Between 2011 And 2015

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:11:56 GMT

"The U.K. government has announced a fivefold increase in spending on combating neglected tropical diseases [NTDs] as part of an international effort to help rid the world of a group of infectious diseases that currently affect one billion people and kill more than half a million every year," BMJ reports (Moszynski, 1/23). "International Development Minister Stephen O'Brien said funding for [NTDs] is to increase from £50 million to £245 million [approximately $381.5 million] between 2011 and 2015 as part of a global push to eradicate diseases including river blindness and elephantiasis," the Press Association writes.

Cutting Military Medical Research Funding Would Jeopardize Health Of U.S. Troops, World's Poorest

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:27:12 GMT

"In recent months, many politicians and presidential hopefuls have called for budget reductions, and many have specifically targeted military spending for cutbacks," Peter Hotez and James Kazura, past president and president, respectively, of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, write in this Atlantic opinion piece. "[P]rograms such as the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) often find themselves low on the priority list despite their crucial role in saving the lives of our troops on the battlefield and here at home," they write, adding, "Today, American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan still face formidable tropical disease threats. ... For over 100 years, WRAIR has been the U.S. military's premier institution for preventing these types of tropical infections."

WHO To Convene Meeting On Yaws Eradication Efforts Based On Study Of Oral Treatment

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:08:50 GMT

"Findings that a one-time oral treatment to cure yaws, a neglected tropical disease, is as effective as the currently recommended penicillin injection have prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to convene a meeting on how the disease may be wiped out," IRIN reports. "'We may be closer now than we have been in decades,' Kingsley Asiedu, a yaws expert with WHO's Department of Neglected Tropical Disease Control, told IRIN, calling the study on the bacterial skin disease, which leads to chronic disfiguration and disability in 10 percent of untreated cases, the most significant in half a century," the news service writes.

Wellcome Trust Examines NTD Research, Awareness Efforts

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:32:03 GMT

The Wellcome Trust reports on neglected tropical disease (NTD) research and awareness efforts in this feature story, writing, "In the past five years or so, wider attention has begun to fall on these other diseases, thanks largely to a campaign led predominantly by scientists and centered on a new name: 'neglected tropical diseases,' or NTDs." The article includes quotes from "some of the scientists who coined the new phrase to raise awareness of the continuing burden of these diseases, and ... Trust-funded researchers whose work is helping to develop better solutions for tackling them" (Regnier, 1/6).

Religious Leaders Should Come Together To Ensure Access To NTD Medicines For World's Poorest

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:49:23 GMT

Most of the world's neglected tropical diseases occur among populations that adhere to Islam, Catholicism, or Hinduism, an observation that "affords an opportunity to establish a unique interfaith dialogue among religious leaders" leading to global action, Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and Serap Aksoy, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, write in a PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) editorial. They provide statistics of NTD infections among different populations living in countries dominated by specific religious affiliations and write, "These high prevalence NTDs not only have a devastating health impact on these populations, but ... they also represent major reasons why such populations cannot escape poverty."

Coordinated Efforts Needed To Eliminate Blinding Trachoma

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:46:56 GMT

OneWorld Health To Become PATH Affiliate

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:50:00 GMT

HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment Efforts Should Include Care For Other Diseases, Experts Say

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:34:07 GMT