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GSK Announces Expansion of Albendazole Donation

Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Public Health, , , , , , ,

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced today at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) launch of the first report on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that they will partake in a five-year commitment to expand the donation of its medicine albendazole to treat children at risk of intestinal worms, known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH).

The new WHO report states that STH infections are more detrimental than any other infection among school-aged children, causing cognitive and developmental issues, physical stunting, and missed school days. These infections are transmitted by use of unsanitary water.

To treat and control STH infections, the WHO recommends annual school-wide deworming, where children between 1-15 years of age receive a single dose of albendazole (or mebendazole), in regions where such infections are high.

Under the new commitment announced today, 400 million treatments of albendazole per year will be provided in addition to the previously committed supply to the WHO with 600 million tablets of albendazole per year for use in the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filiariasis (GAELF). This donation will support the UN’s strategy to improve women’s and children’s health and, when combined with existing de-worming programmes, will enable the countries to scale-up their efforts to achieve universal coverage of school age children in Africa. Shipments of the new donations are expected to start in late 2011.

Public Health Mission in Honduras

Campus Challenge, Global Development, Global Health, hookworm, Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs, poverty, Public Health, , , Global Brigades, , , , , , tapeworm

By: Linda Diep

The Velasquez-Medina family
From left to right: Gregorio, Hector, Catherin (front), Carla, Anastasia

Meet the Velasquez-Medina family: Gregorio Velasquez and Anastasia Medina live in a small two-room home with their two adult children, Carla and Oscar, and their two small grandchildren, Hector and Catherin, in rural Joyas del Carballo, Honduras.

The Velasquez-Medinas is one of the poorest families in their small community, living on $5 a day, lacking basic necessities such as clean water, and going without food on most days. There are many families living in these impoverished conditions throughout Honduras and the world; fortunately, there are organizations such as Global Brigades who work in developing countries and serve families just like the Velasquez-Medina family. Global Brigades is a 501c3 nonprofit organization working to mobilize student volunteers to help provide individuals in Honduras and Panama with a better quality of life through economic, public health, medical, and infrastructure assistance. This summer, I and Campus Challenge winner Manuel Claros, were fortunate enough to participate in a Public Health Brigade – a week-long trip where student volunteers work to improve living conditions for an assigned family – to Joyas del Carballo, Honduras. We worked on four construction projects in efforts to help provide the Velasquez-Medina family with a better quality of life.

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