All posts by Alex Gordon

UK Parliamentarians Call Attention to Neglected Tropical Diseases During Recent Debates

Global Health, NTDs, policy, ,

uk-parliament

This blog post was originally published on the Sabin Vaccine Institute website.  

Earlier this month the United Kingdom’s Houses of Parliament met on two separate occasions to discuss global health priorities  with debates on global health research and development and health systems strengthening. These debates occurred at a crucial time in the Parliament’s calendar as the UK draws closer to the end of this parliamentary session (2010 – 2015) and moves forward towards the General Election in May 2015. It is one of the last few opportunities for parliamentarians to raise awareness of key global health issues before a new Government and parliament is voted in during the spring of 2015.

Baroness Helene Hayman, Board Trustee at the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Vice-chair of the UK’s All- Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs); and Jeremy Lefroy, Member of Parliament (MP) and Board Trustee for Sabin Foundation Europe, raised important points on the role of NTD control and elimination in alleviating poverty and needless suffering in these parliamentary discussions, highlighting successes to date and the challenges that lie ahead.

On Monday December 8th, following the release of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Tuberculosis report on Global Health Research and Development, the UK parliament’s House of Lords hosted a debate on research and development for tuberculosis, and the UK’s broader global health research agenda.

Baroness Hayman began by congratulating the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global TB on their recent report titled, Dying for a Cure: Research and Development in Global Health. She applauded the report’s recognition of the 1.4 billion people who suffer from NTDs and called for increased research for new tools to combat these diseases, highlighting the significant impact of vaccines in combating these diseases.

“[The report] has recognized that NTDs are diseases not only born of poverty but which create poverty,” she said. “They undermine education, employment, health—all the opportunities that would allow people to claw their way out of poverty. Therefore, combating the diseases of the poor, including the big three (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria), is an essential element of the fight against poverty and for social and economic development.”

“For some of those diseases, we already have treatments for which we need more resources — for example, for mass drug administration for soil-borne helminth diseases,” argued Baroness Hayman. “But we still desperately need to develop better medicines, smarter diagnostics and, above all, vaccines if we are to make progress.”

Given the success of investments (including from the UK Government) in to product development partnerships (PDPs) such as Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative and PATH, in producing a number of new tools to combat diseases as well as filling a robust pipeline of candidates for clinical trials in recent years, Baroness Hayman called on the Department for International Development (DFID) to not only increase its budget to further support global health research and development (R&D) but also that continued support and greater investment be directed to  PDPs. PDPs, an innovative model of research that combines private, public and philanthropic partnerships to help develop and progress research candidates in the most efficient way possible, have proven themselves to be an excellent R&D model that is channeling results from investments.

Baroness Hayman also recognized that new tools for NTDs will play a vital role alongside the scale up of delivery of existing NTD treatments to help us achieve global goals in control and elimination of these diseases.

Baroness Hayman ended her comments with two final pleas to the UK Government. The first, to increase their commitment, and the resources they devote, to the “vital work of PDPs.” The second, “to not neglect the importance of the research that can take place in the countries and the communities where diseases are themselves endemic,” commenting on the importance of investing in capacity strengthening of scientists in countries with a high burden of these diseases.

On December 11th, two days after the House of Lords debate, the House of Commons convened for an additional debate following the final reports of the International Development Select Committee (IDC) inquiries on Health Systems Strengthening and Disability. Jeremy Lefroy MP, urged Parliament and the UK Government to continue to prioritize NTD efforts in the areas of health systems strengthening and disability.

In his comments, Jeremy Lefroy references the importance of integrated disease programs in Tanzania which have helped maximize the efficiency of health systems.

“This programme tackles neglected tropical diseases,” he explained. “Instead of looking at only one—lymphatic filariasis, for instance, or worms—it is tackling four of those debilitating diseases alongside each other.

In other parts of the world we find the use of pooled funds—for example, pooled health funds in South Sudan and Mozambique, the development partners for health in Kenya and the health transition fund in Zimbabwe. All are excellent examples of people coming together to strengthen health systems locally, showing that it is not simply about one person making their one vertical intervention, but everyone working to bring the money together and make the best use of it.”

Jeremy Lefroy also emphasized the importance of prevention for controlling and eliminating NTDs and malaria.

“[NTDs] affect the poorest people on this planet—something like 1.4 billion people in the course of a year.” He said. “In fact, NTDs not only affect the poorest people and cause morbidity and sometimes mortality, but they often cause disability. And they are eminently curable, or at least eminently preventable, often by very cheap interventions.

That is why I was thrilled that the last Government decided to make NTDs a priority, and this Government, through the London declaration on NTDs in January 2012, has continued that work, providing, I think, £240 million in total, including the money committed by the last Government, over a four-year period. I ask the Minister to ensure that that commitment to the prevention and treatment of NTDs is continued, because it has a huge impact on disability and the prevention of disability.”

As we draw closer to the end of the current set of Millennium Development Goal and global discussions on what happens next through the Post 2015 development agenda, these parliamentary discussions on global health issues in many countries, including those like the UK who are key champions for NTDs, will play a critical role in building the essential political will to increase efforts to reach global NTD goals. We hope that these discussions will also continue in other countries to stimulate further global discussion on recognizing the milestone achievements we have reached so far as well as what more must be done to end these diseases for once and for all.

To read the full transcript of the House of Lords debate, click here. To read the full transcript of the House of Commons debate, click here.

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Congress Approves $100 Million for NTD Funding!

END7, policy, , ,

 

This spring, the END7 campaign launched an advocacy action to help to fight cuts to the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Program. Thousands of supporters spoke out by sending a message to Chairwoman Kay Granger and Ranking Member Nita Lowey, of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, urging them to maintain NTD funding at $100 million.

We were very happy to hear that Congress approved $100 million for NTD funding in fiscal year (FY) 2015 and the President signed the budget this week! END7 is grateful for the thousands of supporters who took action. This is a huge success for the NTD community and the half a billion children who suffer from NTDs.

This victory underscores a growing bipartisan effort to prioritize global health and NTD spending within the U.S budget, and a growing awareness that treating NTDs is critical to ending extreme poverty. Every dollar spent on NTD treatment contributes to the success of other development efforts including maternal and child health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene. And it costs less than 50 cents to treat a child for all seven of the most common NTDs, making it one of the best buys in public health.

The $100 million allocated to USAID’s NTD Program will bolster global efforts to control and eliminate the seven most common NTDs by 2020. In the past eight years, the NTD Program has delivered more than one billion NTD treatments to people around the world. And thanks to renewed support from Congress, USAID will be able to reach even more people in 2015.

With END7 Support, Nigeria Reaches More Communities at Risk for NTDs

Africa, END7,

 

Photo by MITOSATH

Photo by MITOSATH

All seven of the most common neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are found in Nigeria. With an estimated 100 million people at risk for at least one NTD, Nigeria has the highest burden in Africa.

While Nigeria has a multi-year plan to control or eliminate the seven most common NTDs by 2020 –additional resources are still needed to reach all communities at risk of contracting NTDs.

To support Nigeria’s NTD efforts, the END7 campaign donated $84,000 towards MITOSATH, a Nigerian nonprofit organization that works to control and eliminate NTDs within the country. Specifically, END7 funds supported MITOSATH’s efforts in Bauchi State.

Thanks to the generosity of END7 supporters, more than 2,500 school teachers, community drug distributors and health facility staff members were trained on how to carry out a mass drug administration (MDA). END7 funds also supported MITOSATH’s efforts to increase awareness among community members about NTDs.

In total, these combined efforts ensured the treatment of more than 740,000 people in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) within Bauchi state. Even more, 9,000 of these were school children who were treated for schistosomiasis and intestinal worms for the first time, signaling another step towards NTD control and elimination!

Photo by MITOSATH

Photo by MITOSATH

 

Achieving Global Health Impact through Strategic Communications

END7, NTDs, policy,

 

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(L to R) Richard Hatzfeld, Sabin Vaccine Institute; David Harris, independent creative consultant; Elizabeth Bass, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science

In a world where politics, ideology and values sometimes outweigh evidence, how can global health professionals better communicate what they do in order to achieve impact?  Global Network’s Managing Director, Dr. Neeraj Mistry, addressed this question at last week’s American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting. His panel discussion, titled “Using Communications to Elevate Neglected Tropical Diseases as a Policy Priority,” featured insights from Richard Hatzfeld, communications director for the Sabin Vaccine Institute; David Harris, an independent creative consultant who helped develop the ideas behind the END7 campaign; and Elizabeth Bass, director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.

ARK_8895Elizabeth began by stressing the importance of knowing your audience and goals. While some stakeholders, including policy makers, may be familiar with your issue, it is important to understand where they are coming from so messaging can be adjusted accordingly. She also emphasized the importance of connecting with people. Each and every one of us has a unique background – whether we’re a cancer survivor, an animal lover, a mother or an athlete. If your audience knows more about who you are as a person, they are more likely to trust you and take what you say seriously, she said. Lastly, Elizabeth clued the audience in on what she sees as the “wonder drug” of communications: storytelling. While statistics can cause an audience’s eyes to glaze over, stories have the power to grab an audience’s interest, evoke emotion and make people care.

Further emphasizing the importance of storytelling, David Harris discussed creative communication campaigns that have worked. Every day, our brains are inundated with hundreds of advertising messages – so an engaging and creative story is necessary to stand out and cut through the noise. He first used the example of the Wise Child Trust – a largely unknown charity (at the time) that is working to end child trafficking. Through David’s innovative marketing campaign, happy and healthy school children in the UK were encouraged to write their own story about love, hope or friendship. These stories stood in stark contrast to the terrible stories of trafficked children. The stories of the school children were compiled into a book and were then sold to parents and the community –with all proceeds going towards Wise Child Trust. This campaign was hugely successful and used the power of storytelling to raise an unprecedented amount of awareness and funds for Wise Child Trust.

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David also discussed the Global Network’s END7 campaign and its “How to Shock a Celebrity” video which has gained more than 600,000 views. The concept of “END7” has been effective, explained David, because of its specific and time-bound goal: End 7 neglected tropical diseases by 2020. The campaign’s tagline, “together we can see the end,” is inclusive and encourages everyone to be a part of the solution. In addition, he said, the campaign has a strong call to action – donate just 50 cents to treat and protect one child. was hugely successful and used the power of storytelling to raise an unprecedented amount of awareness and funds for Wise Child Trust.

ARK_8914Next, Richard provided an overview of a communications campaign in India which will raise awareness of an upcoming mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis (LF). He discussed the unique challenges of the campaign, which include messaging to diverse audiences, encouraging compliance and reaching media dark areas without access to television or radio. Richard emphasized that an effective communications campaign can overcome these issues and support the Indian government in their effort to eliminate LF by 2015.

The remarks provided by Neeraj, Elizabeth, David and Richard drew needed attention to the importance of communications and storytelling in the field of global health. Through effective and smart communications, the global health community can have an even bigger impact on the world’s most vulnerable communities.