End the Neglect

Blogging on behalf of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases

Posts Tagged ‘USAID’

NTDs and the US elections

December 6th, 2011

By: Alanna Shaikh

The United States is the largest supporter of neglected tropical disease programs in the world. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administers a long standing – and successful – program for NTD control, with a particular focus on rapid impact packages of NTD drugs. In a recent article on PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Dr. Peter Hotez points out that if we want to maintain the global leadership, NTD advocates have some work to do.

If President Obama is elected to a second term, we can safely assume that support for NTD programs will continue. Both he and Secretary Clinton have shown their commitment to fighting neglected tropical diseases. However, there is no guarantee of re-election. The Republican presidential candidates will need to be educated on the importance of addressing NTDs, as well as being made aware of the vital role that the US plays in combating them.

Dr. Hotez is right, of course. The NTDs are, well, neglected. Your average presidential candidate is unlikely to know much about this particular corner of global health. Worms and obscure bacterial infections aren’t exactly glamorous. I think, too, that this would be a great opportunity to educate the general public about neglected tropical diseases and why we should support the programs that combat them. The Republican presidential candidates are likely to share the same general concerns and questions about NTDs as interested members of the public have as well.

The question is, how do we do that?

Alanna Shaikh is an expert in health consulting, writing about global health for UN Dispatch and about international relief and development at Blood & Milk. She also serves as a frequently contributing blogger to ‘End the Neglect.’ The views and opinions expressed by guest bloggers are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Global Network. All opinions expressed here are Alanna’s own and not those of any employer or the US government.

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Posted in NTDs, Politics

Tags: 2012 Presidential Election Global Health NTDs USAID

USAID Grants PAHO $5 Million to Improve Health in Latin America and the Caribbean

November 22nd, 2011

USAID has awarded the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) an estimated $5,041,913 over the next three years to support PAHO and World Health Organization technical cooperation in global health activities within the Latin America and Caribbean region. The grant will support efforts to prevent and control diseases, such as onchocerciasis, as well as support activities that will help foster public health advancements. Read the excerpt below for more information, or visit the PAHO website to read the full press release.

“The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed an agreement today with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) that provides $5 million to improve health in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus on maternal and neonatal health and tuberculosis (TB).“

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Posted in Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs

Tags: Global Health NTDs PAHO USAID WHO

USAID Awards New Flagship Project “Envision” for Neglected Tropical Diseases

October 26th, 2011

In 2006, USAID launched its first-ever integrated program to target the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Managed by RTI International, the NTD Control Program is one of the first global efforts to integrate existing disease-specific treatment programs for the control and elimination of seven NTDs. Its five years proven track record has demonstrated that such programs can be successfully scaled up to achieve national-scale coverage of all at-risk individuals, an approach that is leading to the successful control and elimination of the targeted diseases.

Since the launch of USAID’s NTD Control Program in 2006, more than 447 million NTD treatments have been provided to more than 82 million people. This has been made possible through the donation of many of the required drugs needed to treat infected populations. More than $2.8 billion of medicines have been donated over the past five years through the pharmaceutical donation programs of GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., and Pfizer to the countries in which USAID is supporting implementation of NTD control.

To add to this success, USAID’s Bureau for Global Health awarded Envision (the follow-on to the NTD Control Program) on September 26, 2011, to RTI. Envision is a five-year Cooperative Agreement, with a $240 million ceiling, that covers the period of October 1, 2011 to September 29, 2016. For the Envision project, RTI has partnered with CBM, Helen Keller International, IMA World Health, Sightsavers International, The Carter Center, Tulane University, and World Vision.

Under Envision, NTD control and elimination will continue to be supported by USAID and will expand in priority countries to further the development of evidence-based policies and standards globally. Envision will assist USAID and the Bureau for Global Health in supporting NTD-endemic countries to scale up control efforts to reduce the burden of the big seven NTDs.

Stayed tuned to End the Neglect, as we will feature more about this exciting new development at USAID.

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Posted in NTDs, pharmaceuticals

Tags: Envision Global Health NTDs RTI International USAID

USAID Confirms FY 2011 Funding Level for NTDs

August 16th, 2011

USAID has recently confirmed that the fiscal year (FY) 2011 funding level for USAID’s NTD Program will be $77 million. This figure, although below the President’s original FY11 request of $155 million, is a $12 million increase from the program’s FY10 allocation of $65 million. The United States has now collectively appropriated $212 million over a six-year period toward NTD control and elimination programs, building on the generous drug donations from the pharmaceutical industry. It is unknown what FY12 will bring under the new debt ceiling agreement and whether or not this funding level can be maintained; however, given the current economic climate, it is a huge win in the fight against NTDs!

Addressing NTDs, which began in FY06, is an objective within the Global Health Initiative (GHI), a six-year initiative unveiled by President Obama in May 2009. One of GHI’s eight priority goals is to control and eliminate a number of NTDs by 2015. Specifically, GHI hopes to use cross-sectoral collaborations (partnerships among country governments, donors, and non-governmental organizations) to “reduce the prevalence of seven NTDs by 50 percent among 70 percent of the affected population, contributing to: the elimination of onchocerciasis (river blindness) in Latin America by 2016; the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) globally by 2020; and the elimination of leprosy.”To learn more about GHI’s funding, check out this comprehensive factsheet. To learn more about how to end the neglect, click here.