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.