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.