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Governance and NTDs

September 2nd, 2010

By: Alanna Shaikh

Last week I mentioned briefly that poverty is a major factor in the spread of NTDs. It’s not the only non-medical factor that contributes to the damage done by NTDs. One thing that’s rarely mentioned in relation to NTDS – but matters a lot – is governance. Rule of law, effective government, and transparency are important to the fight against NTDs. You don’t get those from a mass drug administration, unfortunately.

Effective government starts with health system strength – having enough trained personnel, sufficient infrastructure, good data, and enough money to provide health care and support health. But the effective government needed to support health programs goes beyond the health sector. You need to be able to collect taxes or manage donor money to fund all services, including health. And you need a Ministry of Finance capable of moving the money in ways that work.

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Posted in Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Public Health, policy

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Weekly Blog Roundup August 23-27

August 27th, 2010

Happy Friday Readers! Check out what we talked about on End the Neglect this week!

  1. The Global Network got an awesome opportunity to showcase a 15 second spot on the CBS Superscreen in New York City! Check out the video and join Alyssa Milano and Text “LIFE” to 30644 to End The Neglect!
  2. Our wonderful communications/grassroots intern Linda shared her experience in  Honduras as a student volunteer working on construction projects for impovrished communities.
  3. We got a little clinical when discussing Lymphatic Filariasis in our second “Worm of the Week” installment.
  4. We got excited about the 30th anniversary of smallpox eradication!
  5. Alanna Shaikh talked sandflies and giant sores, with a great article on  leishmaniasis, a horrific neglected tropical disease threatening 350 million men, women and children in 88 countries!
  6. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also had some great articles about smallpox this week, so we were excited to reprint them here for your reading pleasure!

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Public Health, Weekly Roundup, policy, poverty

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End the Neglect Blog Round Up 8/13/2010

August 13th, 2010

Happy Friday readers!

Here’s our weekly roundup:

  1.  On Monday we highlighted a story about an NTD program that provides meals to school children before giving them treatment for schistosomiasis.
  2. On Tuesday, a great organization LEPRA Health In Action guest blogged about integrated programs between Leprosy and Lymphatic Filariasis
  3. On Wednesday, our frequently contributing writer and global health guru Alanna Shaikh gave us some good news about Buruli Ulcer
  4. On Thursday we told you about a new feature on the Council on Foreign Relations website called The Global Governance Monitor
  5. And Today, Friday we had two great items for you: 1) A New Global Helminth Atlas that will be a great NTD advocacy tool 2) The latest edition of The Lancet included an article about Africa’s need for improved access to treatment for schistosomiasis.

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Politics, Weekly Roundup, policy, reading list

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Latest Lancet Article Reveals: “Africa is Desperate for Praziquantel”

August 13th, 2010

 

Urine samples from school-aged children from Nérékoro in Ségou region of Mali. Three samples on right show visible haematuria, which indicates infection with S haematobium. Three samples on left are not haematuric at visual inspection but could still contain abnormal number of red blood cells. Urine cloudiness (third sample from left) is early sign of abnormality. Photo Credit: The Lancet

In an editorial in the August 13 edition of The Lancet, authors representing the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Imperial College of London call for increased supplies of praziquantel for the African continent.  Praziquantel is the only commercially available treatment for human schistosomiasis, a devastating neglected tropical disease (NTD) affects an estimated 200-600 million people worldwide, with the vast majority of cases occurring in Africa, and causes chronic anemia and inflammation associated with severe disability among children, adolescents and young adults. Schistosomiasis produces a disease burden that could exceed that of malaria.

NTDs are devastating, disabling and debilitating parasitic and bacterial infections that adversely affect the poorest 1.4 billion people worldwide living on $1.25 a day. Such conditions promote poverty because of their impact on child growth and development, pregnancy outcome, and worker productivity, all of which adversely impact the earning capacity of already impoverished individuals and communities.

Authors Dr. Peter Hotez (Sabin Vaccine Institute), Dr. Lorenzo Savioli (WHO), Dr. Dirk Engels (WHO) and Dr. Alan Fenwick (Imperial), emphasize that because an estimated one billion tablets are needed to treat 400 million people annually or every other year, at least 10-20 times the currently donated praziquantel is necessary to increase treatment for schistosomiasis in Africa.

The authors conclude by stating that, “… praziquantel is urgently needed for sub-Saharan Africa now, and the current failure of the global community to provide access to this essential medicine is impeding sustainable development in Africa. The shortages of praziquantel should be treated as an African humanitarian crisis.”

 Read the full article here 

 

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Politics, Public Health, Uncategorized, policy, poverty

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Reading List 8/12/10

August 12th, 2010

Hello readers! The news is buzzing with everything from today being UN International Youth Day to the on-going humanitarian crisis in Pakistan because of the massive floods.  We’re also reading about the global threat from the “other malaria,” and whether the ‘right to food’ should become a legal right in India.

  1.  Launching International Year of Youth, UN urges dialogue, respect across generations, UN News Center
  2. Massive scale-up needed in Pakistan flood relief operation, says UN, UN News Center
  3. Map reveals global threat from the ‘other malaria’, Rhiannon Smith, SciDev.net
  4. India Asks, Should Food Be a Right for the Poor? Jim Yardley, New York Times

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Posted in Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Politics, Uncategorized, malaria, policy, poverty, reading list

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Council on Foreign Relations Introduces the Global Governance Monitor

August 12th, 2010

The Council on Foreign Relations recently released a new feature called the Global Governence Monitor on their website that tracks and evaluates multilateral efforts for the world’s most pressing challenges.

There is a specific public health section and if you look closely within the Matrix you will see that the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is listed!

Here is a little more information about the Global Governance Monitor:

“The Global Governance Monitor is a tool that shows how the international community is doing in addressing the most daunting threats that it faces. For each issue area, the monitor provides:

  • a cinematic overview of the challenge, which explains why international cooperation is needed;
  • an interactive timeline that traces the world’s efforts to craft collective responses to the challenge;
  • an issue brief that evaluates the overall performance of the regime and suggests potential reforms to improve international cooperation;
  • a matrix that catalogs relevant international treaties, organizations, and initiatives;
  • an interactive map that details critical countries and groups; and
  • a resource guide for further information on the topic.”

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Posted in Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Politics, Public Health, U.S Government, policy, poverty

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Calling all Global Health/Development Bloggers!

July 26th, 2010

 “End the Neglect,” the official blog for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is looking for blog contributions from professionals and students in the global health/development field.

The Global Network launched the “End the Neglect” blog to serve as a broad, transparent platform through which we as a community can continue to raise the profile of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and disseminate stories from the field. End the Neglect is a vital education resource that informs readers of the devastating impact of NTDs and the simple and cost-effective interventions available.

While “End the Neglect” specifically focuses on NTDs, we are also interested in highlighting bloggers with a broader global health perspective. Success stories, personal stories/testimonials from the field, photos, and video are all welcome!

We accept submissions on a rolling basis. If you are interested in blogging for us, please send a writing sample of no more than 500 words and a brief background of your work/educational experience to Anjana.padmanabhan@sabin.org.

Our blog post submission guidelines are as follows:

  • Keep length of posts between 200-500 words
  • Include links to sites or articles that supplement your topic
  • When quoting other blogs or publications in your post, please link to the original material if possible, and denote quoted material using quotation marks.
  • Submit a brief biography (2-3 lines) and a photo for inclusion with your post.
  • We appreciate suggestions for images to accompany posts. If you have photos available for publication, please submit them along with your post and include caption information and attribution information.
  • If you don’t have images available, we will add one from our own photo stocks or from publicly available resources including Flickr or the CDC’s Public Health Image Library
  • We encourage you to email your post to colleagues and friends to encourage comment and discussion
  • Publication of posts is at the discretion of the Global Network, based on relevance of the subject matter as related to neglected tropical diseases and other global health issues.

Please review the guidelines for submissions below, and contact Anjana.Padmanabhan@sabin.org for more information. Please also visit us on Twitter and Facebook

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Posted in Africa, Campus Challenge, Global Development, Global Health, Just 50 Cents, NTDs, Politics, Public Health, grassroots, hookworm, policy, poverty

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World Population Day 2010!

July 12th, 2010

Yesterday, July 11th was World Population Day.

According to the United Nations Population Fund Website:

“This year World Population Day highlights the importance of data for development. The focus is on the 2010 round of the population and housing census, data analysis for development and UNFPA’s lead role in population and development.

Reliable data makes a difference, and the key is to collect, analyze and disseminate data in a way that drives good decision making. The numbers that emerge from data collection can illuminate important trends. What striking situation does research reveal in your country? What do the numbers tell you about progress toward meeting the MDGs? Are certain groups getting left behind?”

We encourage you to watch this great video by USAID on why population data matters!

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs, Obama Administration, Politics, Public Health, U.S Government, Vaccine Diplomacy, Water and Sanitation, policy, poverty

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Global Network Ambassador Tommy Thompson Urges Congress to Fully Fund NTDs

June 29th, 2010

Today, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson, who also serves as an Ambassador for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, submitted a letter to Congress asking for the full funding for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The letter, addressed to Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), Chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX), called on Congress to support the president’s full request of $155 million for the treatment of the seven most common NTDs. Thompson noted that after seeing the debilitating effects these diseases have, especially on children whom are “constantly sick….cannot regularly attend school… [and whose] future earning potential can be curtailed by up to 40 percent” as a result of these diseases action must be taken. His request is one that the Global Network, and the entire NTD community, hopes will be granted. The Global Network’s Policy Director, Michelle Brooks stated, “that progress made toward the prevention, control, and elimination of the seven most common NTDs is undeniable, but we are far from our goal of eliminating the world’s seven most common NTDs and need the sustained support and commitment of the United States Government in our global health efforts.” Since 2007, under USAID’s NTD control program over 55 million people in 14 countries have received 221 million NTD treatments. The NTD Initiative is part of President Obama’s Global Health Initiative (GHI) unveiled in May 2009 as a comprehensive whole-of-government approach to meeting global health needs. A leading target of GHI is to reduce the prevalence of NTDs throughout the world by clamping down on the seven most common NTDs.

The Global Network would like to thank Governor Thompson, Congresswoman Lowey, and Congresswoman Granger for their unwavering dedication to global public health and the fight against NTDs. Now everyone will watch and see how Congress in this current budget climate will balance the myriad of competing foreign aid issues—particularly those in global health.

To read Governor Thompson’s letter in its entirety, please visit the Global Network’s website.

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Posted in Global Development, Obama Administration, Politics, Public Health, policy

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6th meeting of the Mebendazole Advisory Committee (MAC)

June 15th, 2010

This weeks marks the 6th meeting of the Mebendazole Advisory Committee (MAC), an independent group comprised of experts with a variety of science and health backgrounds. MAC is the advisory group for Children Without Worms (CWW), an organization working to reduce the burden of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, which occurs amongst the poorest children living in tropical and subtropical nations. Children Without Worms has partnered with Johnson & Johnson and The Task Force for Global Health (formerly the Task Force for Child Survival and Development), both of whom have generously donated the drug Mebendazole, a treatment for worm infestations.

Approximately 20 percent of the world is either infected or at risk for STH infections. Children between the ages of 5 and 15 years old suffer the most, and make up one-third of the global STH burden. Children with chronic infections are at increased risk for physical and mental impairments, which can lead to learning disabilities and poor school performance. Children can also be affected before they are even born – infected  pregnant women are at high risk for low birth-weight babies and poor milk production. Additionally, their infants have higher rates of malnutrition and mortality. Furthermore, pregnant women who develop anemia while infected are three and a half times more likely to die in childbirth.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.who.int/wormcontrol/statistics/useful_info/en/index2.html

The most effective prevention methods for controlling chronic STH transmission include both proper sanitation management efforts and educational campaigns aimed at the use of latrines. As previously mentioned, two drugs are available to treat active STH infection, Albendazole and Mebendazole.

In 2001, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution to eliminate STH as a public health problem by regularly treating 75 percent of at risk children by 2010. Unfortunately, less than 20 percent of this population was reached with deworming treatment in 2005. This pressing global health issue must be addressed now and we need your help. To see how you can help control STH transmission, please visit the Global Network’s and CWW’s websites. Together we can control these infections, and assist in providing a better life for the bottom billion!

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Posted in Global Development, Global Health, Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs, Public Health, policy

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