Monthly Archives: January 2014

Summiting to See the End of Neglected Tropical Diseases

Africa, END Fund, ,

 

SummittoseetheEND

 

Eliminating the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) from our planet is an ambitious goal. It requires commitment, patience, know-how and dedication: qualities that are also required to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. This summer, the END Fund together with dedicated visionaries, NTD experts, humanitarians and business entrepreneurs, will trek to the top of one of the world’s highest peaks while raising awareness and resources for the fight against NTDs as part of the organization’s initiative, Summit to See the END.

According to Sarah Marchal Murray, Senior Vice President of the END Fund, Summit to See the END came into fruition after a new board member and avid hiker joined the END Fund team this past summer. His combined passion for hiking and ending NTDs in children fueled the idea. In November, the END Fund turned this idea into a reality as they “soft launched” the project and started to spread the word amongst the END Fund community.

The ultimate goal of the journey is three-fold:

  1. to demonstrate the exhilaration that comes from tackling the 19,341 ft summit and draw the parallel in tackling NTDs,
  2. to raise awareness about NTDs and how they affect the most impoverished populations, and
  3. to mobilize crucial donations for the END Fund’s work in 2014 and beyond.

Hikers also pledge to reach out to their networks to help achieve these goals, in addition to making an initial individual commitment. After summiting Kilimanjaro, they will also participate in an NTD learning day where they’ll be able to see NTD control programs in action, interact with those closest to the cause, and meet members of a community affected by these debilitating and disfiguring diseases.

But the journey to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro is far more meaningful than a set of goals typed on a website. Sarah sees this trek as a life-changing and transformative journey that requires those involved to deliberately reflect on their own commitment to ending NTDs, as well as the lives of those suffering from these debilitating diseases.

Besides getting the body and mind in shape for the hike, the training process also provides the hikers with another way to connect with their families and communities and increase NTD awareness.

The END Fund hopes that the experience will leave a lasting impression, fueling the hiker’s engagement with the NTD cause and motivating each hiker to share their experiences with those close to them – further expanding the network and increasing awareness for NTDs.

“Providing our community with a link to the people we serve was important to us. We think the summit is symbolically significant: if each individual hiker comes home and shares with their networks and circles how it personally touches them, there’s a ripple effect,” Sarah explained. “While financial resources are imperative if the NTD community is going to reach our aims of control and eradication by 2020, there is great power in the amplification of our voices amongst each hiker’s personal circles.”

For hikers like Sarah, this experience is a very personal one. In a letter addressed to her friends and family, she explained why she is making the trek.

“Partially because of where my husband and I are lucky enough to live, we won’t have to worry about our daughter contracting one of the five disabling, debilitating and deadly diseases known as NTDs. A group of parasitic and bacterial infections, they affect nearly 800 million children and are the cause of death for over 500,000 people per year.”

“So [I am hiking] to prove to myself and my daughter that anything is possible.” In addition, she writes, “[I am hiking] so that the only worms I need to educate my daughter about live in the ground and not inside children her own age.”

Ultimately, like the fight to end NTDs, the preparation and hike up Mount Kilimanjaro is a marathon – not just a sprint.

“NTDs won’t be wiped off the planet this year,” Sarah said. But if we concentrate our efforts, join together with the growing international movement committed to seeing their END, and continue to push forward, “we can summit to see the END in our lifetimes.”

Learn more about the END Fund and Summit to See the END.

Introducing Zoya Shahid: END7 Student of the Month

END7, NTDs,

 

Zoya_shadidThe END7 student community is growing into a global movement of young advocates dedicated to seeing the end of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by raising awareness and funds in their schools and communities. This month, we are proud to share a reflection from our January student of the month, Zoya Shahid. Zoya, a marketing student, has spent the past two months building a community of END7 supporters at the Institute of Business Management in Karachi, Pakistan. Her passion for the NTD cause earned her a position on the newly-created END7 Student Advisory Board and has fueled her considerable accomplishments since she first learned about END7 just a few months ago.

Zoya shares, “The first time I came across END7 was when I saw the “” video. Immediately, I shared the link and began to discuss how we could bring this great cause to my country, my city, my university, and my region. My mentors then helped me gain access to student societies that we could work with to do fundraisers and advocacy sessions. For the past two months, we have been advocating for this cause at IOBM and on social media to make sure that the people in the region understand what NTDs are and how they affect us as a society. We are also planning a fundraiser at IOBM in February. I have been focused on how to make the cause more marketable and have used social media to reach a range of young people who are willing to do fundraisers and advocacy all over South Asia.” Zoya certainly has been an active advocate for END7 on social media, sharing our materials and encouraging her friends to participate in the recent #StopSTHChat organized by Johnson & Johnson on Twitter.

She continues, “I think that my passion for this cause comes from my grandmother. My intense belief in helping those in need and the idea of doing whatever you can to help people, regardless of their colour and creed, has been cultivated in me by her. I do believe that if my grandmother hadn’t been such an influential person in my life, I would not have this amount of passion for this cause. The choice to be associated with END7 might have been mine, but I believe that the source of that choice is my grandmother.”

We are so grateful for Zoya’s commitment to END7 and are excited to see our grow under her leadership. If you are ready to get your school involved in END7’s work, contact student coordinator Emily on or at to learn how you can get started!

Feeling Optimistic on the 2nd Anniversary of the London Declaration for NTDs

Africa, Asia, END7, Global Development, Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs, , , ,

 

Photo by Esther Havens

Photo by Esther Havens

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) – the largest coordinated effort against NTDs to date. Since its launch, governments across the globe have committed to end NTDs and hundreds of millions of people have been treated for these diseases.  This week we’re recognizing the remarkable progress and momentum achieved since the formation of this global partnership where 13 pharmaceutical companies; the governments of the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; World Bank and other international organizations formed a global partnership to control and eliminate 10 NTDs by the end of the decade – a commitment that Sabin Vaccine Institute’s president Dr. Peter Hotez calls a “tipping point for the world’s poor.”

The London Declaration has served as a roadmap to improve the lives of the 1.4 billion people worldwide affected by NTDs, most of whom are among the world’s poorest. Since then,  regional committees, endemic and donor countries, NGO and pharmaceutical partners throughout the world committed to and prioritized controlling and eliminating NTDs. Eliminating NTDs is understood to be one of the most cost-effective and comprehensive ways to achieve development goals and eliminate poverty. While we still have a long way to go, measured progress has been made and we’re feeling optimistic about the route to 2020, and we know that with increased funds and political commitment, the number of people needlessly suffering from NTDs will decrease.

In Asia this past year:

  • 6 countries started the process to verify elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) – an extremely painful and debilitating NTD
  • 6 countries reached the global target of deworming at least 75% of school-aged children
  •  India’s Joint Secretary in the Ministry on Health, Dr. Anshu Prakash, stated the country’s commitment to the controlling and eliminating of NTDs – an important announcement considering India bears 35% of the world’s burden for NTDs
  • Following the launch of the Regional Strategic Plans for WPRO and SEARO, more than 10 countries across Asia and the Pacific updated their national plans and renewed their commitment to end NTDs, and East Timor is preparing to launch its national program this year.

In Africa:

  • The Sixth Conference of African Union (AU) Ministers of Health (CAMH6) in April called for increased domestic investment in NTD control and elimination
  • The World Health Organization’s (WHO) 63rd Regional Committee for Africa meeting passed a regional strategic plan to accelerate achievements
  • Three African countries launched national integrated master NTD plans – Nigeria in February, Ethiopia in June and Uganda in September –  totaling more than 30 African countries with such plans.
  • This spring, we that Togo is soon to become the first sub-Saharan African country to eliminate LF

And in Latin America and the Caribbean:

While the progress in these regions is promising, more needs to be done by both endemic countries and partners. If we are to truly eliminate poverty and the diseases that perpetuate it, we need sustained support from all stakeholders: endemic countries, donors, regional and global committees, NGOs and more. As managing director of the Global Network, Dr. Neeraj Mistry, recently stated in an op-ed, NTD control and elimination efforts must also integrated into broader efforts to eliminate poverty and achieve global development goals:

“By including NTDs and specific targets in the post-2015 development agenda, we will support country-led efforts to reach control and elimination goals, improve the health and well-being of hundreds of millions of people, and accelerate progress in global poverty reduction.”

Ending the 10 most common NTDs by 2020 was an ambitious goal but the progress of the last two years proves the global community is up for the challenge, and will continue to fight until NTDs no longer exist.

A Big Win for NTD Funding in the U.S. FY 2014 Budget

NTDs, policy, , , ,

 

Credit: Flickr user geetarchurchy

Credit: Flickr user geetarchurchy

After three years of indecisive budget wars, Congress has successfully passed a national budget for 2014. The one trillion-dollar-deal sailed through the House (359-67) and Senate (72-26) on January 15 and 16, and was quickly signed by President Obama the next day, raising hopes that compromise will replace gridlock in Washington in 2014.

What you may not know is that NTDs won big in the budget deal. Funding for USAID’s NTD Program was ramped up from $85.5 million ($89 million less 5 percent for sequestration) to $100 million, representing the greatest increase in U.S. NTD funding since FY 2010. Perhaps even more significant, funding for USAID’s NTD program increased despite a $4.3 billion cut to overall funding for U.S. foreign programs — demonstrating lawmakers’ on-going belief in the value and impact of NTD and global health programs. In fact, Chairman Hal Rogers of the House Appropriations Committee about the budget bill:

“In addition, the bill prioritizes global health, humanitarian, and democracy promotion programs—while reducing funding in other lower priority areas—to advance American interests around the globe and to fulfill the nation’s moral obligation to those in dire need.”

To date, USAID’s NTD Program has distributed more than 800 million treatments to nearly 250 million people across 25 countries, leveraging more than $6.7 billion worth of donated drugs, which represents one of the most successful public/private partnerships between government, non-profit and pharmaceutical partners. This new injection of funds will enable USAID to continue treatments in established program areas, monitor and evaluate national progress, reach new endemic populations and maximize drug donations that are currently available yet unable to be used.  Most importantly, this puts the global community one step closer towards reaching the London Declaration’s control and elimination goals.

So throw a party, grab some cake, and celebrate this great win for NTDs.

 

FY2014