Monthly Archives: September 2011

Dr. Peter Hotez Awarded for Excellence in Inter-American Public Health

Global HealthHorwitz Award, Peter Hotez,

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We are proud to announce that Dr. Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, is the 2011 recipient of the Abraham Horwitz Award for Excellence in Inter-American Public Health.  Awarded by the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Horwitz Award recognizes Dr. Hotez for his dedication to improving the lives of the impoverished and his tireless work in public health within the Americas.

Dr. Peter Hotez receives the prestige Horwitz Award

This award’s recognition of Dr. Hotez showcases the great progress being made in neglected tropical disease research, advocacy and prevention, but there is still much work to be done in our efforts to end the neglect. Check out the full press release below:

Pioneering scientist Dr. Peter Hotez wins major award for Excellence in Inter-American Public Health

The Abraham Horwitz award will honor Dr. Hotez’s extensive work in global health over the past 30 years

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Sept. 26, 2011- Dr. Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, was honored today with the prestigious Abraham Horwitz Award for Excellence in Inter-American Public Health.  The annual award, presented jointly by the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), recognized the major public health contributions that Hotez has made to improve the lives of people living in the Americas. Continue reading →

Dr. Peter Hotez Calls for More Attention to NTDs in Central Asia

Asia, NTDsCentral Asia, , Peter Hotez, Sabin Vaccine

Here at End the Neglect, we’re pleased to share a new research study co-authored by Dr. Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, published today by the Public Library of Science (PLoS). The article highlights the underappreciated burden of neglected tropical diseases in Central Asia and addresses the need for increased surveillance and control programs in order to end the neglect.

A link to the PLoS article can be found here, and the full press release is below:

Central Asia’s Hidden Burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases

High rates of parasitic infection in the region nearly 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union

The open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases will publish an article emphasizing the rising burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Central Asia on Tuesday, Sept. 27th. According to the article’s co-authors, Dr. Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and Dr. Ken Alibek of Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, the region continues to suffer from a post-Soviet economic breakdown that may have contributed to a re-emergence of several NTDs in the area, especially among its most economically disadvantaged groups.

Continue reading →

Burundi Beats Back NTDs

Africa, de-worming, NTDs, , SCI

By: Alan Fenwick, Director of the Schistosomaisis Control Initiative and Professor of Tropical Parasitology, Imperial College London

Burundi is a small, heavily populated and desperately poor country in central Africa. Just a few years ago, its people were in the throws of a 12-year civil war, and also plagued by several debilitating neglected tropical diseases, which are a group of infections that disable, debilitate and stigmatize those affected.

In 2007, the philanthropic organization Geneva Global agreed to fund the treatment of parasites in Burundi and brought together several partners to assist Burundi’s Ministry of Health. The Global Network for Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI, Imperial College) and CBM work in partnership to provide technical guidance for Burundi’s National NTD Control Program and National Program for Onchocerciasis Control programs.

Over a period of four years, interventions to protect people against river blindness, and treatment for those infected with schistosomiasis and intestinal worms were delivered annually through schools and communities. With the help of local people and teachers, over 31 million safe and effective treatments were delivered to school children throughout Burundi.

The table above displays number of treatments distributed in Burundi over the course of four years.

As a result, river blindness was eliminated and the quality of life for all children in Burundi has improved:

  • Schistosomiasis prevalence was reduced from 12.7 percent to 1.7 percent
  • Anemia prevalence fell from 25 percent to below 10 percent
  • Worm prevalence and intensities were significantly reduced

The school wide deworming will continue for several more years to ensure children are adequately nourished to complete their primary education, allowing for a break in the cycle of poverty. Such interventions are highly cost effective as well. The cost of delivering over 31 million treatments was less than $10 million – an extremely cost effective way to improve the health of children and to get them back in school!

Be a part of the NTD movement today and visit the Global Network’s Get Involved page to combat neglected tropical diseases.

A LEAP forward for Leishmaniasis treatment

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By: Alanna Shaikh

The Leishmaniasis East Africa Platform, aka LEAP, has brought us a new, improved therapy for visceral leishmaniasis. The new therapy is cheaper, shorter, and more effective than existing treatments.[i]

Visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala-azar, affects about 500,000 people every year and 50,000-60,000 people die annually. It’s spread through the bite of the sandfly[ii]. Symptoms include fever, weight loss, and swelling of the spleen and liver. And, of course, eventual death in many cases;[iii] the disease is fatal if untreated.

I’ll repeat that for you. Fatal if left untreated. Continue reading →