Strong Partnerships to Fight Neglected Tropical Diseases

London, 31st January 2012: Drug companies, politicians and experts have come together to tackle some of the world’s most neglected Tropical Diseases. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pledging over £230 million, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development and all those involved are aiming to have beaten 10 diseases by 2020 either through elimination or control.

Tackling these 10 diseases, would mean bringing life-improving diagnosis and treatment to 1.4 billion people around the world. This partnership will signify the largest coordinated effort to combat these diseases which include lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, river blindness, visceral leishmaniasis, trachoma and sleeping sickness.

Thirteen pharmaceutical companies have pledged to increase the numbers of drugs they are donating to control these diseases; an estimated 1.4 billion treatments will be supplied each year. Further to this, 11 drug companies are sharing their compounds and expertise in order to further research and development of vital new drugs and processes.

"Partnership is the only way forward, when tackling tropical diseases at scale," says Malaria Consortium Executive Director Sunil Mehra. "It is encouraging to see leaders in the field joining together in order to achieve maximum impact."

For this reason, Malaria Consortium is joining the UK Coalition Against Neglected Tropical Diseases, a collaboration of UK and UK-based international organisations engaged in implementation, capacity building and research of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).  The coalition aims to raise awareness among key stakeholders in NTD elimination and control, work alongside policy makers to ensure policy decisions are based on scientific evidence and that NTD control is included in health and development frameworks. Through the Coalition, Malaria Consortium hopes to play an even greater role in helping to reduce the impact of these diseases, which affect some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

To find out more about the UK Coalition, please visit the website.

Read more on the global commitment to Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases

Find out more about Malaria Consortium’s work on NTDs in South Sudan from the associated media.

For more information, email [email protected].

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