Sabin Vaccine Institute president Dr. Peter Hotez and many of our neglected tropical disease (NTD) partners contributed to a comprehensive report in Infectious Disease News on efforts to control and eliminate NTDs by 2020.

“NTDs require more recognition, resources to be controlled,” by Emily Shafer, details the activities currently underway and provides a frank assessment of the challenges we must overcome. Experts remarked on a number of priorities, including: carrying out advocacy, conducting mass drug administration, encouraging greater investments from current and potential donor governments, integrating NTDs in existing development interventions and building up endemic countries’ infrastructure to deliver treatments.

Here are some of the highlights:

On donor government funding:

“According to [Dr. Peter] Hotez, with the exception of the U.S. and British governments, there has not been widespread funding provided by other G-20 countries for NTD control or elimination. However, this may change in the coming years, and now some G-20 countries are supporting research and development efforts for NTDs.”

On the importance of strengthening capacity:

“We need to take advantage of the large donations to distribute free and safe medications to distribute to the poorest of the poor. … We need to develop the infrastructure to deliver the medicine, along with health education and community engagement, so that everyone is on board with the process.” – Dr. Frank O. Richards, director of the River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis and Malaria Programs at the Carter Center

On NTD integration:

“Bed nets don’t only prevent malaria, they will also help eliminate lymphatic filariasis. We’re trying to get people to take a more holistic view of the way health care interventions are delivered to local communities.” – Dr. James Kazura, director of the Center for Global Health and Diseases and professor of international health, medicine and pathology at Case Western Reserve University

On our end goal:

“If the drug donations continue and we continue reaching out to people and delivering treatments, then the net results will be that the diseases disappear.” – Dr. Alan Fenwick, professor of tropical parasitology at Imperial College London

For the full article, click here.