Uniting to Combat NTDs programme sets record

By Linda Asante-Agyei, Ghana News Agency Special Correspondent, Geneva

Courtesy Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Geneva, April 25, GNA - The Guinness World Records has officially presented a certificate to the Uniting to Combat NTDs programme, for setting a charitable world record of donating 207,169,292 doses of drugs in multiple venues within 24 hours.

The donation by 10 world pharmaceutical companies formed part of a global initiative to fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

The pharmaceutical companies were: Bayer, Eisai, Gilead, GSK, Johnson &Johnson, MSD, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi.

Marco Frigatti, Head of Global Records Management Team, Guinness World Records, who made the presentation, said the record was now considered one of the largest medical donation programmes in the world, greatly assisting the WHO's Roadmap in its aim to reach 2020 control of NTDs.

He noted that whilst more than the 207 million NTD medicines donated in a day represent less than 10 per cent of the total number of medicines, it was more than enough to set a Guinness World Record for most medication donated in 24 hours.

'The record title accomplished by Uniting to Combat NTDs, is a reflection of what impact collaboration, aligned strategies, and diverse partnerships can have on humanity,' he added.

The Organisation's effort was recognised at the just ended week long Global Partners Summit, organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which also marked the fifth anniversary of the London Declaration, a historic document signed by leaders from diverse sectors committed to controlling, eliminating or eradicating 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2020.

Representatives of Member States, donor agencies, foundations, the private sector, academia and stakeholders and pharmaceutical companies participated in the summit.

The 207 million drugs donated on January 30th represented just a small amount of the group's generosity.

Since 2012, when United to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases signed a declaration to control or eliminate 10 of the worst neglected diseases, they have donated 7 billion treatments.

NTDs are a group of debilitating infectious diseases such as elephantiasis, river blindness and trachoma that affect the world's poorest communities.

Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General WHO, said several influential foundations also helped to make the incredible record possible.

The idea behind this record is a noble one, inspired by a mission of the World Health Organization to eradicate 17 Neglected Tropical Diseases affecting thousands of helpless individuals in impoverished nations.

By enlisting the help of healthcare companies who could donate the necessary medication to rehabilitate infected people, efforts by the Uniting to Combat NTDs alliance proved to be record-breaking.

Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO said the record breaking was a reminder of the work necessary to deliver a treatment from a manufacturer's warehouse, from the officials who receive and organize donations, the NGOs and government programs who deliver it to remote communities, all the way to the heroic health workers who dedicate their lives to bringing those treatments to patients.

Treatment donations at such a large scale have enabled extraordinary reach and impact by NTD programs around the world.

Since the goal to eliminate 17 NTDs first began, more than 300 million people who required preventative treatment for at least one NTD five years ago no longer need it.

Ms Thoko Elphick-Pooley, Director of the Uniting to Combat NTDs Support Centre who received the certificate, said the Guinness World Records title was shared by all the partners of the Coalition, whose collective work has helped to drive progress and lift the burden of NTDs from some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Over the past five years, Uniting to Combat NTD had contributed to significant improvement in fighting these severely infectious diseases, which affect millions.

Compared to five years ago, companies were now donating hundreds of millions more treatments each year from one billion treatments in 2011 to more than 1.5billion treatments in 2015.

Bill Gates expressed his excitement to celebrate the group that achieved this incredible feat, Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases, a coalition of drug companies, governments, health organizations, charities, and other partners who work to reduce the burden of tropical diseases that impact the world's poorest.

He was grateful to the pharmaceutical companies that have been making the historic donations year after year and commended them and their partners for their efforts in ensuring that millions of people were receiving the medicines they needed to cure and protect them from these diseases.

These diseases, he noted, were in retreat and the world was moving closer to the day when they would be eliminated altogether.

'Of course, all world records get challenged. And I for one will be thrilled for the day when this record for drug donations gets broken. So will the millions of families around the world who need them,' he added. GNA