19 February 2015: The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a third report on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), titled ‘Investing to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases.’ The report analyzes, for the first time, investments needed to scale up implementation required to achieve the targets of the WHO Roadmap on NTDs and universal coverage against NTDs.
The report outlines an investment strategy for NTDs and analyzes the specific investment case for prevention, control, elimination and eradication of 12 of the 17 NTDs following the adoption by the 66th World Health Assembly in 2013 of resolution WHA6612 on NTDs calling for sufficient and predictable funding to achieve the Roadmap’s targets and sustain control efforts. It cautions, however, that it is “wise” investment and not investment alone that will yield success.
The report consists of four main sections on: the Resolution and the Roadmap, and progress towards targets; investing towards universal coverage against NTDs; a situation report on key interventions; and the 17 NTDs.
Registering progress and signaling challenges that lie ahead, the report states that climate change is expected to increase the spread of several vector-borne NTDs, including dengue, transmission of which is directly influenced by temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and climate variability. Investments in vector-borne diseases, the report explains, will avoid the potentially catastrophic expenditures associated with their control. Thus, the presence of NTDs will signal an early warning system for climate-sensitive diseases.
As the world’s focus shifts from development to sustainable development and from poverty eradication to shared prosperity, the ultimate goal, according to the report, is to deliver enhanced and equitable interventions to the most marginalized populations in the context of a changing public-health and investment landscape to ensure that all peoples affected by NTDs have an opportunity to lead healthier and wealthier lives. [Publication: Investing to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases] [WHO Press Release]