Today, a new editorial authored by Peter Hotez, Jeffrey Sachs and others in the New England Journal of Medicine reinforces the importance of integrating neglected tropical disease (NTD) control measures into existing control efforts for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Highlighting a growing body of evidence from global health interventions over the past several years, the editorial argues that there are significant gains that can be achieved by adding treatments for the seven most prevalent NTDs to prevention and control programs targeting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, including those supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
At approximately 50 cents per person annually, the value of tying NTD control to other major health initiatives poses one of the most cost effective health interventions available. The editorial also outlines the operational synergies of integrating control and elimination efforts into existing health interventions. For instance, community drug distributors who provide ivermectin for onchocerciasis also provide insecticide-treated bed nets for malaria protection, and bed nets appear to interrupt the transmission of lymphatic filariasis (and possibly other NTDs).
Additionally, low-cost anthelminthic drugs can be administered to pregnant women for intestinal helminth infections and schistosomiasis, thereby improving pregnancy outcomes. These drugs could be co-administered with intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for malaria during pregnancy or with antiretroviral drugs for reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission.
Click here to read the press release and here to access the NEJM website.