ND Fighting NTDs is a student-run group from the University of Notre Dame. They have contributed to End the Neglect in the past, most recently with this blog post highlighting their Annual NTD Awareness week at Notre Dame last December. Today we are featuring a video that they created as an advocacy tool to encourage others to “do their part” in the fight against NTDs.
**Warning: Graphic content:
UK-based journalist Emilie Filou (who recently authored this great article on Trachoma), writes about neglected tropical diseases again for This is Africa. The article also features snippets from interviews Filou conducted with Dr. Neeraj Mistry, Managing Director of the Global Network, and Dr. Peter Hotez. The piece discusses the role of pharmaceuticals in NTD control, the importance of integration across other disease and issue areas and elimination goals.
From the article:
“The term ‘other disease’ has been a great frustration,” says Dr Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and an expert on NTDs. “It’s quite clear that you won’t get Bono or Angelina Jolie to help out with ‘other diseases’. That’s what spurred us to call them Neglected Tropical Diseases as a group. It’s not the greatest of names, but it will help galvanise awareness,” he says.
Advocacy group The Global Network for NTDs is now lobbying to include NTDs under the remit of The Global Fund, Pepfar or the President’s Malaria Initiative. “We have new data coming out of Zimbabwe that shows that women infected with schistosomiasis are three times more likely to be infected with HIV,” explains Dr Neeraj Mistry, managing director of the Global Network.
“Treating schistosomiasis therefore becomes an intervention for HIV control; it’s those links we need to make to justify the inclusion of NTDs in global health efforts.”
There are many more such synergies: HIV-positive individuals have seen a decrease in their viral load when de-wormed; lymphatic filariasis is transmitted by mosquitoes, so the use of bednets, widely distributed for malaria control, is an efficient prevention measure.
Dr Mistry says that including NTDs in the Global Fund would only increase their budget marginally, but substantially increase their impact. “It costs as little $0.5 per year to treat an individual against NTDs. Compare that with the $100 it costs to treat someone with HIV, or the $35 the average African family spends on malaria control. In terms of investment, you won’t find a better return in health.”
To read the full article click here
By: Alanna Shaikh
There are a whole lot of groups out there doing their part to make neglected tropical diseases a little less neglected, ranging from tiny NGOs to large partnerships like the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (which sponsors this blog). One interesting NGO is Deworm the World[1]. They connect groups that work with schoolchildren to interested donors, to help good efforts get the funding they need. Their goal is to improve school attendance, and therefore education, by supporting deworming efforts.
I like their approach. They didn’t set up a whole new NGO to do what other groups are already doing. Instead, they found a way to help the groups that are already out there. They draw on the energy and expertise of the Forum of Young Global Leaders to support their work and raise the profile of helminthes.
So, it sounds good, but what does Deworm the World actually do?
» Read more: Spotlight on Deworm the World
By: Christopher Lindahl
The relationship between maternal health and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is pretty well documented here, here, here, here, and here. It seems pretty clear that controlling NTDs will have a positive impact on maternal health.
However, another way to think about the relationship between maternal health and NTDs is to look at the similarities between the two, as global health issues, and develop ways that advocates can learn from each other regarding how to best promote solutions.
The Global Network site provides a summary of facts about NTDs that reads similarly to what one might say about maternal health. Basically, substituting “maternal mortality” for “NTDs” (with some editing for context) leaves you with statements that are still true.
» Read more: Advocating for Maternal Health and NTDs
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