U.S. & partners unite to combat 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020

Today, 13 pharmaceutical companies, the U.S., U.K. and U.A.E governments, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and other global health organizations announced a new, coordinated push to accelerate progress toward eliminating or controlling 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by the end of the decade.

NTDs are the diseases that many people have never heard of, with hard-to-pronounce names like schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. Yet taken as a whole, these diseases affect more than one billion people and lead to US$10 billion each year in lost productivity and treatment costs. These diseases disproportionately impact poor and rural populations who lack access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and essential medicines.

With a unique mix of actors we demonstrated the feasibility and cost effectiveness of scaling up integrated NTD programs to the national level. It is now clear that with proper support, integrated NTD control programs, following World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, can be implemented, relieving the terrible burden of these diseases for millions of people around the world.

In fact, in just five years, the U.S. Government's NTD Program has supported the delivery of more than half a billion treatments to over 232 million people in 20 countries.

The integration of NTD control builds on a number of existing strengths including the donation of essential medicines, the successful track record of the major public private partnerships already committed to mass drug administration, the widespread reach of community-directed efforts even in post-conflict countries, and the strengthening of health systems by directly supporting health ministries and volunteer community drug distributors.

By taking advantage of where the diseases could be treated together, we've been able to achieve significant cost savings and do far more than we could if we managed them as individual challenges. And we have built upon and supported existing networks, including ministries of health, schools, non-governmental organizations, which together provide the program with greater efficiency and long-term sustainability as well as strengthen the capacity of national programs. The Government of Ghana is prioritizing NTDs and will convene experts and donor partners in the coming weeks to formulate a national plan for NTD control and elimination.

President Obama's Global Health Initiative (GHI) is building on this legacy by smartly integrating USG investments, focusing on country ownership, innovation, and new partnerships. By harnessing the spirit of ingenuity and partnership, we can continue to adapt and advance lifesaving technology, better service delivery models, and innovations that empower women and their families to lead healthier and more productive lives – helping the world's poorest build self-sufficiency.

Following Ghana's lead, with the help of the American people, international partners, and the private, philanthropic, and academic sectors, we are making good progress, and going forward we will make much more.