By Mary-Katherine Ream
Staff Writer
Washington — The World Health Organization (WHO) is intensifying efforts to prevent, control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases, ailments that plague the developing world. The new WHO campaign aims to eradicate at least 10 of these illnesses by 2020.
In announcing the plan January 30, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said it “represents the next step forward in relieving and, in many cases, finally ending the vast misery caused by these ancient diseases of poverty.”
Through partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and countries like the United States, WHO hopes to substantially diminish the international impact of these diseases.
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) afflict more than 1 billion people worldwide and result in a significant reduction in lives and livelihoods. Many of the diseases, which are transmitted through insect bites or contaminated water, can be prevented with simple measures like mosquito nets or drug treatments. In poor countries, however, even simple solutions can be too expensive or unavailable.
The plan outlines an international strategy closely aligned with the Obama administration’s Global Health Initiative (GHI). President Obama said: “We cannot simply confront individual preventable illnesses in isolation. The world is interconnected, and that demands an integrated approach to global health.”
The WHO document, entitled Accelerating Work to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Roadmap for Implementation, targets 17 NTDs ranging from dengue fever to soil-transmitted helminthiases. Each ailment is unique, differing in geographical distribution, method of transmission and impact on health.
For example, soil-transmitted helminthiases, commonly known as intestinal worms, spread through three different types of pests. Humans contract the infection by eating food, drinking water or walking on soil infested with diseased worm eggs. After a few weeks, they develop intestinal discomforts such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. Helminth infections are the most common in the world. WHO’s road map strives to contain the infection through preventative drug treatments and improved sanitation.
The report also recommends the mass administration of medicine to suppress another NTD, lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis. This illness is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito infected with a filarial parasite. The infection causes abnormal swelling of body parts, severe pain and disability. WHO estimates that more than 120 million people are infected with this grossly disfiguring disease. The plan suggests controlling the mosquito population with pesticides and insect nets to help stem the spread of this disease.
Some NTDs are transmitted through human contact. Blinding trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide and is typically passed from child to child. Rabies, on the other hand, is transmitted from animal to human — usually through a bite. Some of these conditions, like leprosy, have agonized populations since biblical times.
To reduce the impact of these NTDs, WHO has developed a five-step implementation strategy for the impoverished areas where these diseases are endemic. The steps include preventive chemotherapy, intensified disease management, vector and host control, veterinary public health, and provision of safe water and sanitation.
The newly drawn WHO road map strives to prevent disease through safe, single-use medicines. When the diseases do occur, the report recommends early detection and better treatment. It also emphasizes the need to control the source of these diseases through improved sanitation, hygiene and animal care.
The United States is already taking aggressive steps against NTDs, similar to those recommended in the new WHO plan. Announced in 2009, President Obama’s Global Health Initiative (GHI) focuses on the health of women and children as well as infectious disease. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), one of the initiative’s major goals is to “reduce the prevalence of 7 neglected tropical diseases by 50 percent among 70 percent of the affected population, and eliminate onchocerciasis in Latin America by 2016, lymphatic filariasis globally by 2017, and leprosy.”
To achieve these goals, the president secured significant financial support. In his FY 2012 budget request to Congress, President Obama called for $100 million to fight NTDs. This request represents a 30 percent increase from 2011 and underscores the United States’ commitment to the eradication of these diseases.
The United States is bolstering its financial support by collaborating with other global health organizations. American pharmaceutical companies such as Gilead, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer are all donating medicine. Merck, for example, is providing an unlimited supply of one treatment for as long as it is needed. American NGOs are also contributing to the effort. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing $363 million over five years for product and operational research.
WHO and the United States hope to extend the momentum gained from the first Global Partners’ Meeting in 2007, where NTDs received a high global priority. Since then, the incidence of most of these diseases has been reduced through greater access to treatment and better methods of control.
