At the recent “Uniting to Combat NTDs: Translating the London Declaration into Action,” we had a chance to catch up with David Addiss, the director of Children Without Worms (CWW). CWW is a partnership between Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Task Force for Global Health to support the treatment and prevention of infection with soil-transmitted helminths (STH), commonly known as intestinal worms.

Global Network: What is the Task Force for Global Health and how does it address NTDs?

David Addis: The Task Force for Global Health is a non-profit organization […] that was founded […] to help bring groups together to focus on neglected [tropical] diseases. It started out with vaccinations and then it was the home for the Mectizan Donation Program. Now it houses several drug donation programs and has other public health programs that focus on global diseases. The Children Without Worms is one of those drug donation programs and we facilitate the donation of drugs for intestinal worms from two major pharmaceutical companies – Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline.

Global Network: What are the impacts of NTDs?

DA: There’s a variety of reasons to care for […] NTDs. They have huge economic and developmental consequences. If we’re interested in health equity [and] in global security, it’s important that we address these problems.

As human beings, we care about the suffering of others. We are programmed neurologically to recognize and respond to suffering. And the suffering that is caused by neglected tropical diseases is immense. It may not be right in front of us, we may not see it every day as we live in the cities of the north and in developed countries, but we know that it’s there. To not do something about it goes against who we are as human beings.

Global Network: How do you measure the success of achieving a goal related to NTDs?

DA: Success looks a little bit different from one disease to the other since the NTDs are a group of different diseases. For some diseases such as onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, it means global elimination, such that these diseases will be gone from the face of the earth. For other diseases it means elimination as a public health problem – where we’re bringing the levels of infection down to where there’s no disease, no significant morbidity.

For soil-transmitted helminths, […] success as we envision it now is the absence of any morbidity. So we have to bring transmission levels down to a certain level. We have to improve hygiene, sanitation, water supply, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be some infections, but that these will be easily treated within the routine health services.

So it ranges from elimination to very, very tight control, and essentially eliminating them as a public health problem.

 

At the recent “Uniting to Combat NTDs: Translating the London Declaration into Action,” we had a chance to catch up with Alissa Fishbane, then the managing director of Deworm the World (DtW). DtW is a non-governmental organization that addresses NTDs by supporting governments and development partners to expand school-based deworming programs for school-aged children across the globe.

Global Network: Why should people care about NTDs?

Alissa Fishbane: Our work in NTDs is deworming. And there are a number of reasons why deworming is important but I’ll share what I think are three very important reasons.

First, deworming has an immediate impact on children’s education. When we think about the investments we make in education, we make important ones like schools, teachers, books, but ultimately the kids need to be there to learn. So we’ve seen how deworming is one of the most cost-effective ways to get kids in school.

The second, I would say is the long-term effects of deworming. We’ve seen studies where deworming has led to higher wages for children as they grow to adults. They’re also more literate and they’re able to work more hours.

And the third is the spill-overs we see. It’s not just the kids themselves who are receiving the benefit of deworming, but because we stop the transmission from these kids, then that spills over into the communities

So when we think about how cost-effective deworming is and we combine the immediate impact on education, the long-term impact on higher wages and the spill-over effects – and then we think there’s 600 million kids out there – school-aged kids – who are either at-risk or infected, deworming is just a fundamental part.

Global Network: Can you share a story about someone who has experienced deworming?

AF: One of the stories is from a girl name Rica in Bihar, India. She comes from a poor family [and is] the only kid in school who doesn’t wear shoes. She [is] not the top student in her class, but Rica’s always very attentive. She really likes school, she never misses class, and she has a dream. Rica’s dream is to grow up and help underprivileged kids. But Rica suddenly became […] lethargic. She wasn’t eating as well and she started not going to school as often. Her parents became worried and they tried a number of therapies and medications to figure out what’s going on. Ultimately, it was after the deworming day at school that Rica felt better. Not only did Rica feel better, but her parents noticed that she was more active at home, better able to participate in household activities. The teachers at school [also] said they noticed her concentration was up again and she was actually participating in extracurricular activities again.

And so, it’s being able to combine knowing the science behind what we’re doing and also seeing the change happening in front of you. [This] is what [has] been really inspiring.

Global Network: What inspired you to invest your energy in working on the deworming campaign?

AF: What originally drew me into this field was the evidence. I have a research and evaluation background and so it was just that learning that deworming was such a global best-buy for development drew me in. Seeing the change happen on the ground […] is so inspiring day-to-day. For me, something that was so cost-effective, so simple, so easy, so safe and so cost-effective, is what really motivated me to join the cause.

 

 

 

 

 

At the recent “Uniting to Combat NTDs: Translating the London Declaration into Action,” we had a chance to catch up with Bill Campbell, Chairman for The End Fund.

Global Network: What is the significance of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)

Bill Campbell: When I decided that I wanted to be an activist-philanthropist, I started working on my elevator speech about NTDs right away. I know what neglected tropical diseases are, [as well as most other] people, but they don’t know [the diseases] by their names. So I started out with “listen: join me in trying to really change the world for the poorest of the poor.” HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, polio – those are called the big four in public health, and in general they’re pretty well funded. The next ten diseases are called the neglected tropical diseases and they’re really, really indigenous to the poorest of the poor. You know those big tummies, you know those scratched out eyes? Those are the diseases that we call NTDs and they can be fixed – they can be fixed very economically, but we need help.

Global Network: Why is it important for philanthropists to invest in NTDs?

BC: I think an investment in NTDs is an investment in life. I think those of us who are privileged enough to have become philanthropists should think about how we can give back for the great things that have happened to us.

You see a girl [who is] ten years old with one of these NTDs and she’s out of school, and before you know it, they keep her out of school, and her destiny just becomes so much poorer than what we’ve been given, and that’s why I recommend this cause to my friends.

Global Network: What do you think is the economic benefit of ending NTDs?

BC: If you just see the micro potential of that young girl that I just described – she’s ten years old; she has no future if she can’t go to school. These diseases keep that girl out of school. If we release hundreds of millions of people onto our society, the economic potential, the economic output, has got to be beyond my calculations.

Global Network: What role does The End Fund play in advocating an end for NTDs?

BC: The End Fund is what I’ll call the right thing at the right time. I think that public funding, government funding, etc. can only go so far. There will always be issues in that regard. Neglected tropical diseases have in various places around the world tremendous resources that can appropriately be brought together in order to solve these problems, particularly amongst children and adults. The End Fund is, [in fact], the ultimate collaboration – raising money in order to essentially bring resources that are already there – closer together so that they’re more efficient and effective. That’s our role.

 

Just last week, the World Bank released a new video to give people an understanding of who are “the world’s extreme poor.”

These are the approximately 1.2 billion individuals who live off a budget of less than $1.25 per day. To break it down even further: 2.5 billion lack access to basic sanitation; 800 million don’t have access to clean water, and nearly 3 out of 4 live in rural areas that lack necessary access to basic resources.

While these facts are often jarring, we’re still making progress compared to just over two decades ago, when 1.9 billion people lived in extreme poverty. China and India have been among those progressing by respectively reducing their poverty rate from 84% and 60% in 1981 to 12% and 33% in 2010.

The poverty rate is a reflection of international living standards that determine the physical infrastructure of inhabiting environments, economic security and growth, access to education, gender equality and physical health and well-being.

And, these populations in extreme poverty are exactly the same people who are vulnerable to the seven most common neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Communities that struggle within the climate of extreme poverty often rely on infected water and poor sanitation standards that are more likely to expose them to disease and illnesses. These individuals lack the proper tools and resources necessary to sustain safe environments. Many of these vulnerable populations also live further away from city hubs that would provide them with access to facilities, such as health clinics. Thus further debilitating a perpetual cycle of sickness and poverty.

NTDs have curbed individuals’ health and long exposure to infections can cause lifelong disabilities and even death. However, with the help of international and national institutions and organizations, it now only costs 50 cents to treat a person for up to one year. NTD treatment programs not only represent global health benefits for the developing nation, but also provide cost-effective solutions to reducing poverty on an international scale.

There’s no magical remedy for poverty and while it takes improvements to many aspects of development, real, lasting change can be achieved by working together in an integrated, committed fashion.