Tag Archives: MDG

We Need Your Voice: Now’s the Time to Tell World Leaders to End NTDs

Global Development, policy, post 2015, , , ,

 

700x700UN_Secretary-General_END7As September quickly approaches, world leaders are gearing up for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) where they’ll discuss how to improve the lives of the billion people on the planet living in extreme poverty. These poor and neglected populations represent those suffering from devastating and disfiguring neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

We know that treating NTDs is a catalyst for achieving broader development goals, especially those outlined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is why I’ve written a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to prioritize NTDs as part of his strategy to reduce poverty and inequality worldwide.

This is where you come in: By adding your name to my letter, our message will be amplified. Will you send a message to Ban Ki-moon now on behalf of the billion people suffering from NTDs? 

NTDs perpetuate a cycle of poverty that continues from generation to generation. These diseases directly affect nutrition, school attendance and the development of children. Even more, they undercut economic growth and increase the likelihood of contracting other harmful diseases like HIV.

But if we act now, we can persuade the world’s governments to help the world’s most neglected people by resolving to eliminate NTDs once and for all.

Ban Ki-moon has said “eradicating extreme poverty continues to be one of the main challenges of our time.” However, we know that poverty cannot be solved as long as one in six people are living with NTDs.

But there is good news: The medicine to treat NTDs is cheap, safe, available and life-changing. Even more, global momentum is growing to treat and prevent NTDs. The recent report issues by the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda placed NTDs alongside the most pressing global health issues, such as preventing maternal and child deaths; HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis.

Together we can elevate funding, research and political will for NTD treatment. Will you be a part of this success story?

Add your name here and pass it on. Together we can see the end of 7 NTDs.

Policy Update – Global Health Council 2010 Conference

Global Development, Global Health, India, NTDs, Politics, Public Health, UncategorizedGlobal Health Council 2010 Conference, , , , , Pi Project, Policy Update,

Last week, the Global Health Council (GHC) held its 37th annual international conference in Washington, DC. It was a well attended event filled with participants from across the globe and the global health community. Dozens of panel discussions, plenary sessions, special events, films, and exhibits were all available to provide attendees with valuable venues for learning, networking, and engaging in substantive global health conversations.

Topics ranged from global health metrics and the Millennium Development Goals to maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, chronic and degenerative diseases (including NTDs), and financing mechanisms. Additionally, GHC designed two tracks for those in the policy or research arenas highlighting subjects of particular interest for these respective groups. As the new policy director for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, I closely followed the policy track attending sessions on the budget landscape, advocacy, countdown to 2015, U.S. and multilateral organizations, and the use of global health as a diplomacy tool. The broader plenary sessions also provided updates and direct interaction with current leaders in the global health space—all timely and useful information.

Throughout the week, conferees were easily identified by their cotton satchels holding programs and conference materials. These bags were handmade by women in Chennai, India who are part of the Pi Project—a non-profit organization that provides economic empowerment to vulnerable women. Profits from the bag sales went directly to the women involved in the project. The satchels were a constant reminder of why global health advocates, thought leaders, and stakeholders gathered to meet in Washington, and who the real beneficiaries truly are.

Michelle Brooks joined the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases as its new policy director in February 2010. She previously worked for the U.S. Peace Corps and World Vision.

One comment so far

Reading List 6/7/2010

Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Public Health, reading list, Water and Sanitationcolon cancer, , , , , National Institutes of Health, New England, , , , The George Washington Medical Center,

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. We have a new list of reads to kick start your week! Today we’re reading about National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) $15 million grant to establish a NTD research center at The George Washington Medical Center, which Dr. Peter Hotez will co-lead. We are also reading about how a plant found in western India used to treat roundworm could be useful in treating colon cancer, discussion about Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at an upcoming lecture by the Department for Development Cooperation in the Netherlands Antilles, and NTDs in urban New England areas.

$15 million NIH grant for NTD research center, GWU Medical Center (on page 7)
Experimental colon cancer model, Albert A Baskar, Savarimuthu Ignacimuthu, Gabriel M Paulraj, and Khalid S Al Numair, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Department for Development Cooperation public lecture, Roddy Heyliger, St. Maarten Island Time
Dirt Roads Ooze with Life, Bill Amos, Times Argus

Leave a comment