End the Neglect

Blogging on behalf of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases

Posts Tagged ‘Lymphatic Filariasis’

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases Partners with Eisai Co., Ltd.

March 15th, 2011

The Global Network to provide advocacy and resource mobilization support to complement Eisai Co., Ltd.’s historic DEC donation to the World Health Organization (WHO)

March 15, 2011- The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Eisai Co., Ltd to provide advocacy support for Eisai’s diethylcarbamazine (generic name, “DEC”) donation to the World Health Organization (WHO). This donation is a significant contribution to the global neglected tropical disease (NTD) response and will expand the pharmaceutical industry’s role in global health initiatives to combat NTDs. Through collaboration around advocacy activities related to the DEC donation, the Global Network will assist Eisai in forging and maintaining strong ties with international agencies, foundations, corporate and government agencies working to combat NTDs. The Global Network will work with Eisai on its planning, reporting, and implementation activities around the DEC donation and will provide Eisai with technical advice for future decision-making on NTD initiatives. Eisai will work with the Global Network to deepen its engagement in NTD policy, advocacy, and resource mobilization efforts, particularly in Asia.

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Posted in Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, poverty, Press Release, Tropical Medicine

Tags: Eisai Global Health Lymphatic Filariasis news NTDs research WHO

Letter to a Parasite

March 1st, 2011

By: Amanda Miller

Dear Lymphatic Filariasis,

You disgust me. You are a parasite. You use unsuspecting mosquitoes to spread thread-like worms into unsuspecting humans. You occupy the lymphatic system in humans, and in severe cases, you lead to elephantiasis. In case you didn’t know, that’s massive and painful swelling of limbs. You cause pain, immobility, and problems for human beings that happen to be mothers, brothers, bread-winners, fathers, teachers, workers, sisters, cousins, friends. You’ve never bothered to ask for permission or wondered how your parasitic existence would affect their lives. To be honest, I’m pretty angry about this.

In fact, we use your name -parasite- to mean something so self-serving that would attach itself to someone else and live off of their life. Yes, we may have referred to past partners, boyfriends and girlfriends as parasites (evidently, relationships that don’t work out). We use your name for unsolicited malicious computer programs that destroy our hard drives. We use your name to talk about things that disgust us. Yes, we humans love a good analogy.

» Read more: Letter to a Parasite

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Posted in MDA, NTDs, parasites, Tropical Medicine, Water and Sanitation

Tags: elephantiasis LF Lymphatic Filariasis NTDs sanitation

A Success: USAID’s Neglected Tropical Disease Program

February 16th, 2011

This post has been reprinted with permission from USAID’s IMPACTblog.

By: Elizabeth Thompson, President’s Malaria Initiative USAID/ Bureau for Global Health

A young woman is measured for height to determine her proper treatment dosage for lymphatic filariasis and soil-transmitted helminthes during a mass drug administration in Sierra Leone. Photo credit: Michel Pacque/USAID

There is a group of diseases you don’t hear much about but that has a terrible impact on more than 1 billion people around the world – that’s one sixth of the world’s population. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified 13 of these as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and they include such dreaded illnesses as elephantiasis, leprosy, blinding trachoma, and intestinal worms. Together, NTDs have a disproportionately large impact on poor and rural populations, causing severe illness, disfigurement, and disability. They also perpetuate poverty by reducing people’s ability to work and children’s intellectual and physical development.

Until recently, many countries were treating NTDs through separate, uncoordinated programs. However, pilot studies suggest that it is possible to integrate programs to control and treat seven of these diseases together by providing safe and effective drug treatments once or twice a year to all people in an affected community. This approach, which has been endorsed by WHO and is called mass drug administration (MDA), targets large, at-risk populations, rather than individuals, since NTDs tend to occur together in the same geographic area. Pilot studies of MDAs of the seven targeted NTDs resulted in significant reductions of illness and transmission of these diseases and indicated that, though there were major challenges, integrating control programs was possible and could result in cost savings and efficiencies. However, it was not clear if integrated programs could be scaled up to the national level.

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Posted in hookworm, NTDs

Tags: elephantiasis Global Health hookworm Lymphatic Filariasis NTDs roundworm USAID WHO

Success in the fight against NTDs in Zamfara, Nigeria

February 10th, 2011

By: Marthe Damina, Project Officer with Sightsavers

This week, my colleagues in the United Kingdom will present Sightsavers’ initial findings of a pilot neglected tropical diseases (NTD) project that I worked on in Nigeria, to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and NTDs. The pilot programme in Zamfara State is groundbreaking for Sightsavers and for the area.

Groundbreaking for us – as it’s the first time Sightsavers has invested in treating NTDs outside of the blinding onchocerciasis (oncho) and trachoma, which we’ve been supporting the control of in the area since 1996 and 2003 respectively.

Groundbreaking for Zamfara – because it’s the first time that state-wide NTD prevalence mapping has taken place in Nigeria. The mapping of three of the top five NTDs showed a prevalence range of 8.8% to 48.1% for schistosomiasis (schisto), 8.8% to 18.5% for soil transmitted helminths (STH) and 6% to 22% for lymphatic filariasis (LF). These diseases have serious implications for childhood growth, intellectual development, educational outcomes and productivity.

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Posted in Africa, NTDs

Tags: Africa All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and NTDs Global Health Lymphatic Filariasis Nigeria NTDs onchocerciasis Schistosomiasis sightsavers trachoma