Category Archives: hookworm

The Neglected Egyptian Protest

Africa, END7, Global Development, Global Health, healthcare, hookworm, National Security, NTD Controll, NTD Enlightment, NTDs, poverty, Public Health, Sabin Vaccine Institute, WHO

About two years ago around this time, crowds of protest movements were enveloping the Middle East and North Africa. Protestors were coming together to work towards better representation of people that had the capacity to serve the larger population, rather than the upper elite. In Egypt, particularly about two years ago around this time, the former President of Egypt of 30 years, Hosni Mubarak, was forced to step down.

The Middle East region includes about 20 countries, with almost 400 million people living within its span. Of this population, about 65 million people live on less than $2 US dollars a day. Egypt has the largest number of people living in poverty in the Middle East, with 18 percent out of 80.4 million living on less than US$2 per day. Loose labor laws, a lack of strong physical infrastructure and a weakened sense of social justice amounted to an overwhelming amount of unsatisfied civilians that took to Tahrir Square in 2011 and have since been fighting for their just representation by government officials.

Economic burdens and restraints, like those that have affected a large portion of Egypt’s population, not only lead to inequality of employment, resources and infrastructure, but they can also eventually lead to the regression of physical health. When you have such a large population living in under-privileged circumstances, people walk a very thin line of safety when it comes to health services. It may not have stood out as a single issue that raised headlines during the protests, but the lack of policy that suppressed the spread of diseases is also a result of government neglect.

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Neglected Tropical Diseases and the Festival of Ideas

Africa, hookworm, integration, policy, schistosomiasis

Yesterday, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, in partnership with the Embassy of South Africa, hosted a panel called “Integrated Approaches to Health and Development through NTD Control.”

The panel discussion was a part of larger event hosted by the Embassy of South Africa, called “Thought Leadership for the African Health Agenda.”  The Embassy is hosting similar events to spur ideas throughout 2012, as a part of their “2012 Festival of Ideas.”

The Global Network’s Managing Director, Dr. Neeraj Mistry, moderated the panel and hopes the discussion will improve awareness of and support for solutions to NTDs, diseases that have often been “hidden in the shadows.”

The panelists, Dr. Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute; Dr. Jennifer Kates, Vice President and Director of HIV Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation; and Dr. Ok Pannenborg, Former Chief Health Advisor, World Bank Group, shared their perspectives on NTDs, including the health impacts and existing treatments, the U.S. government’s approach, and the role of health systems. Continue reading →

WASH and NTD Groups: Working together to achieve so much more

Children Without Worms, hookworm, NTDs

By Kerry Gallo, Children Without Worms

Ned Breslin’s recent commentary in The Huffington Post regarding The London Declaration to control or eliminate 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTD or NTDs) brought up an important point: the NTD and WASH sectors need to leverage the many opportunities for collaboration that exist. Successful collaboration will be critical in making a big difference in controlling or eliminating NTDs.

Children Without Worms and Johnson & Johnson have been focused on soil-transmitted helminthes (STH), an NTD also referred to as intestinal worms. Nearly 600 million children around the world are at risk of STH, which leads to malnutrition, stunting and other irreversible damage which impedes long-term health and earning potential.

We have long understood that medicines are part of the solution — after all, drugs treat infection and once administered to an infected child, the benefits are almost immediate. But to keep children and families healthy for the long run, preventing infections from happening in the first place is vital. Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene are key to making that happen and have therefore been central to our approach.

Photo Courtesy of Children Without Worms

We have been proud and privileged to work through WASH partners in a few of our program countries, particularly Cambodia and Cameroon. In Cambodia, we have worked through the Ministries of Health and Education to conduct deworming days and to implement a curriculum our partner, Helen Keller International, developed to teach children the importance of hand washing and using sanitation facilities. In Cameroon, we work with the World Wildlife Fund, who builds latrines and provides access to drinking water in remote communities.

A recent literature review and meta-analysis on the impact of water and sanitation on STH control performed by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute shows the benefits of this integrated approach. The study found that “the availability and use of sanitation facilities were associated with a reduction in the prevalence of infection with soil-transmitted helminthes [odds ratio of 0.51]”.

The London Declaration was indeed a moment in time for diseases that has affected so many people on our planet for too long. As we expand our program to other countries with increased donations of mebendazole from Johnson & Johnson and new donations of albendazole from GlaxoSmithKline, we will seek additional opportunities to partner with WASH-focused organizations whose expertise we welcome.  CWW also recognizes the importance of examining the effectiveness of combining various WASH interventions with treatment to combat STH infection, and plans to support research to strengthen the evidence base and inform the best strategies for comprehensive control.

I am reminded of a proverb used frequently in global health and development: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. This nugget of ancient wisdom remains true today. By working together to broaden an integrated approach to addressing NTDs, the WASH and NTD sector will be able to achieve so much more.

How the outhouse helped save the South and what it can do for the world’s bottom billion

hookworm, NTDs, WASH

 

Last century, the invention of the outhouse helped to eliminate hookworm and other parasites in the United States. Now new research shows that the lowly latrine could be a powerful tool in controlling these diseases, which remain widespread among the world’s poorest people.

It’s pretty simple. Whether people use it or just have access to it, the latrine could help save hundreds of millions of people from disabling disease. So concludes researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, who found that in study sites, latrines halved the risk of infection from three common intestinal parasites- hookworm, roundworm and whipworm. Their research was published earlier this week in PLoS Medicine.

Hookworm, roundworm and whipworm– known collectively as the soil-transmitted helminthes or STH’s- are transferred from person to person through contact with feces-contaminated soil. It makes sense then that latrines or toilets would have a major impact on reducing transmission. This isn’t exactly a new idea. Today STH’s are most common in developing countries where there is limited access to clean water and basic sanitation. It wasn’t that long ago though that STH’s were a major problem here in the US, especially in the American South. It was the invention of the outhouse, in combination with anti-helminthes treatments, that helped eradicate these diseases. Continue reading →