19 April 2017: The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on progress in tackling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) since 2007, when global partners set up a plan to address the diseases together. NTDs include dengue, rabies, leprosy, sleeping sickness and trachoma and other types of blindness.
The partnership brings together local and international actors with health ministries in affected countries, with a focus on delivering medicines and providing care and long-term management of the diseases. It is “one of the most effective global partnerships in modern public health” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan. The report, titled ‘Integrating neglected tropical diseases in global health and development,’ was launched at the Global Partners’ Meeting on NTDs, held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 19 April 2017.
Meeting the SDG targets for water and sanitation is needed for maintaining momentum in controlling NTDs.
WHO reports that the partnership reached one billion people with treatment in 2015, and that disease control programmes have been expanded thanks to political support, improved living conditions and supply of medicines. The report indicates that, in order to sustain this momentum, it will be necessary to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for water and sanitation. Poor people living in remote, rural areas, urban slums, or conflict zones are most at risk of NTDs. The World Health Assembly will meet in May 2017, including to review proposals on improved vector control, the need for which have been spotlighted by outbreaks of the Zika virus.
Also on Zika, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) released a report on Zika’s impacts on gross domestic product (GDP) and other areas besides health. Titled ‘Socio-economic impact assessment of Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean,’ the report finds that Zika could cost the Latin American and the Caribbean region up to US$18 billion between 2015 and 2017. It highlights particular impacts on Brazil, Colombia and Suriname.
Launching the report on 6 April 2017, Jessica Faieta, UNDP in Latin America and the Caribbean, said Zika’s consequences can “undermine decades of social development, hard-earned health gains and slow progress” towards the SDGs. The virus highlights the “critical role that communities and local health workers play during health emergencies,” said Walter Cotte, IFRC. He highlighted that community engagement strengthens local partnerships, resilience and reduces stigma. [Integrating Neglected Tropical Diseases into Global Health and Development] [WHO Press Release on NTDs Report] [UN Press Release on WHO Report] [UNDP Press Release on Zika Report] [UN Press Release on Zika Report]