London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases

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The London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases was a collaborative disease eradication programme launched on 30 January 2012 in London. It was inspired by the World Health Organization roadmap to eradicate or prevent transmission for neglected tropical diseases by the year 2020. [1] Officials from WHO, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's 13 leading pharmaceutical companies, and government representatives from US, UK, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Brazil, Mozambique and Tanzania participated in a joint meeting at the Royal College of Physicians to launch this project. The meeting was spearheaded by Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, and Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [2] [3]

Contents

This declaration was the largest coordinated effort to date in health issues and it aimed to eliminate or control 10 neglected diseases by 2020 by providing more than US$785 million to support research and development. These diseases are most rampant in economically deprived regions of the world and affect 1.4 billion people. [4]

Neglected tropical diseases

The rather commitments include:

Endorsements

Initial partners

The original endorsers with their basic strategies were: [6] [7]

Government and international organizations

  1. USAID: The US federal government agency will continue support to over 20 countries with its $89 million appropriation from Congress.
  2. World Bank: The international financial institution will implement the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control to completely control river blindness.

Foundations and charitable organisations

  1. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The foundation has put up a 5-year US$363 million commitment, the largest funding for the project.
  2. The Children's Investment Fund Foundation: A UK charitable organisation.
  3. Becton Dickinson: An American medical technology company.
  4. Bristol-Myers Squibb: A New York-based pharmaceutical company.
  5. Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi): A global research and development organisation with headquarters at Geneva will actively work for development of new drugs (such as oxaborole, fexinidazole) and perform clinical trials.
  6. Lions Clubs International: A secular service club in Illinois supports blindness prevention through its SightFirst programme to fight blinding trachoma. The SightFirst has allocated over US$11 million in 10 countries for eye surgeries, medical training, distribution of Zithromax and tetracycline, and sanitary services. It has also announced US$6.9 million funding to support the Government of China.
  7. Mundo Sano: An international non-profit organization based in Argentina to fight against Chagas disease and soil-transmitted helminths. It contributed US$5 million for project expansion and program enhancement for selected sites in the Americas and Africa.

Pharmaceutical companies

  1. Abbott: The US-based global pharmaceutical and health care company works for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all major neglected diseases. It provides innovative technologies, drug compounds and scientific expertise, academic research and health education.
  2. AstraZeneca: The British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biologics company headquartered in London.
  3. Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals: The division of Germany's pharmaceutical company supports the fight against Chagas disease and African sleeping sickness. The company will specifically make their products nifurtimox and suramin, the drugs of choice for the disease respectively, doubly accessible in South America and Africa, where the diseases are prevalent.
  4. Eisai: The Japanese pharmaceutical company with headquarters at Tokyo will manufacture and supply Diethylcarbamazine (up to 2.2 billion 100 mg tablets) free of charge to WHO to combat lymphatic filariasis.
  5. Gilead Sciences: The biopharmaceutical company in California that discovers, develops and commercializes therapeutics will donate 445,000 vials of its AmBisome over five years (equivalent to $8 million) for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.
  6. GlaxoSmithKline: The London-based multinational pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare company headquartered will donate 400 million albendazole tablets each year to fight soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Further it will continue to provide 600 million tablets albendazole per year for lymphatic filariasis as long as necessary until the disease is eliminated.
  7. Johnson & Johnson: The American multinational medical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer will work through its collaborative project Children Without Worms in the dissemination of drugs and providing health education. It will extend its existing donation of mebendazole (200 million tablets per year) for soil-transmitted helminthiasis.
  8. Merck KGaA: The German chemical and pharmaceutical company will continue to donate praziquantel for schistosomiasis indefinitely. It will increase its annual donation from 25 million tablets at present to 250 million tablets (worth US$23 million per year).
  9. Merck Sharp & Dohme, MSD: An American pharmaceutical company will run Mectizan Donation Program to provide ivermectin for river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
  10. Novartis: a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel will extend its commitment to provide multi-drug therapy (rifampicin, clofazimine and dapsone) to eradicate leprosy.
  11. Pfizer: A New York-based American multinational pharmaceutical corporation will continue its donation of azithromycin for blinding trachoma until at least 2020.
  12. Sanofi: A French multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris will extend its existing donation of eflornithine, melarsoprol and pentamidine for treating sleeping sickness.

Other endorsers

There were 71 endorsing organisations, including NGOs, academic institutes and companies. As the programme was launched, the governments of Brazil, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Mozambique announced political and financial commitment to the implementation of the programme. [8]

Progress and achievements

The annual progress reports on the London Declaration are reported by the organisation, Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases. These reports celebrated progress and identified the issues in achieving the aims of the declaration. [9] In 2017, the Uniting to Combat NTDs received the Guinness World Record of "Most medication donated in 24 hours (multiple venues)" for donating 207,169,292 doses of drugs within 24 hours. [10] [11]

The programme did not meet complete success, but millions of lives were saved, the burden of the infections was reduced, and 42 countries eliminated at least one disease. [12] An estimated 500 million people became free from treatments against one or more diseases. One of the biggest successes was the control of Guinea worm disease; by 2018, it was eliminated in 19 of 21 countries. [13] As the London Declaration programme ended, only 15 cases were recorded globally. [14] Lymphatic filariasis was eliminated as public health problems in 16 countries, trachoma in 10 countries, and onchocerciasis in four. Annual cases of African trypanosomiasis were reduced from more than 7000 in 2012 to fewer than 1000 in 2018; the number surpassed the projected 2000 cases by 2020. Cases of leprosy has been reduced to 1% in a year. [15]

In 2019, the Government of the United Arab Emirates announced that it will observe 30 January as the World NTD Day. The next year, WHO formally adopted the day to commemorate the launch of both the first NTD road map and the London Declaration. [16] [17]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diethylcarbamazine</span> Chemical compound

Diethylcarbamazine is a medication used in the treatment of filariasis including lymphatic filariasis, tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, and loiasis. It may also be used for prevention of loiasis in those at high risk. While it has been used for onchocerciasis, ivermectin is preferred. It is taken by mouth.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onchocerciasis</span> Human helminthiasis (infection by parasite)

Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindness due to infection, after trachoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filariasis</span> Parasitic disease caused by a family of nematode worms

Filariasis, is a filarial infection caused by parasitic nematodes (roundworms) spread by different vectors. They are included in the list of neglected tropical diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helminthiasis</span> Any macroparasitic disease caused by helminths

Helminthiasis, also known as worm infection, is any macroparasitic disease of humans and other animals in which a part of the body is infected with parasitic worms, known as helminths. There are numerous species of these parasites, which are broadly classified into tapeworms, flukes, and roundworms. They often live in the gastrointestinal tract of their hosts, but they may also burrow into other organs, where they induce physiological damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lymphatic filariasis</span> Medical condition

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neglected tropical diseases</span> Diverse group of tropical infectious diseases which are common in developing countries

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of tropical infections that are common in low-income populations in developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. They are caused by a variety of pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and parasitic worms (helminths). These diseases are contrasted with the "big three" infectious diseases, which generally receive greater treatment and research funding. In sub-Saharan Africa, the effect of neglected tropical diseases as a group is comparable to that of malaria and tuberculosis. NTD co-infection can also make HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis more deadly.

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is an advocacy initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute dedicated to raising the awareness, political will, and funding necessary to control and eliminate the most common Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)—a group of disabling, disfiguring, and deadly diseases affecting more than 1.4 billion people worldwide living on less than $1.25 a day.

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The eradication of infectious diseases is the reduction of the prevalence of an infectious disease in the global host population to zero.

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Neglected tropical diseases in India are a group of bacterial, parasitic, viral, and fungal infections that are common in low income countries but receive little funding to address them. Neglected tropical diseases are common in India.

The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) is a World Health Organization project to eradicate the Filarioidea worms which cause the disease lymphatic filariasis and also treat the people who already have the infection.

The eradication of lymphatic filariasis is the ongoing attempt to eradicate the Filarioidea worms which cause the disease lymphatic filariasis and also treat the people who already have the infection.

Lymphatic filariasis in India refers to the presence of the disease lymphatic filariasis in India and the social response to the disease. In India, 99% of infections come from a type of mosquito spreading a type of worm through a mosquito bite. The treatment plan provides 400 million people in India with medication to eliminate the parasite. About 50 million people in India were carrying the worm as of the early 2010s, which is 40% of all the cases in the world. In collaboration with other countries around the world, India is participating in a global effort to eradicate lymphatic filariasis. If the worm is eliminated from India then the disease could be permanently eradicated. In October 2019 the Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said that India's current plan is on schedule to eradicate filariasis by 2021.

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The Kigali Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases is a global health project that aims to mobilise political and financial resources for the control and eradication of infectious diseases, the so-called neglected tropical diseases. Launched by the Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases on 27 January 2022, it was the culmination and join commitment declared at the Kigali Summit on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) hosted by the Government of Rwanda at Kigali on 23 June 2022.

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References

  1. ↑ Crompton DWT, ed. (2012). Accelerating Work to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases – A Roadmap for Implementation (PDF). Geneva: WHO Press, World Health Organization.
  2. ↑ WHO (3 February 2012). "WHO roadmap inspires unprecedented support to defeat neglected tropical diseases". who.int. World Health Organization, Geneva. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  3. ↑ The Pharma Letter (31 January 2012). "Research-based pharma pledges on neglected tropical diseases". thepharmaletter.com. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  4. ↑ Cohen, Joshua P.; Silva, Lisseth; Cohen, Alisa; Awatin, Josephine; Sturgeon, Robert (2016). "Progress Report on Neglected Tropical Disease Drug Donation Programs". Clinical Therapeutics. 38 (5): 1193–1204. doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2016.02.031. PMID   27041410.
  5. ↑ Mitra, Amal K.; Mawson, Anthony R. (2017-08-05). "Neglected Tropical Diseases: Epidemiology and Global Burden". Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2 (3): 36. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed2030036 . ISSN   2414-6366. PMC   6082091 . PMID   30270893.
  6. ↑ Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (30 January 2012). "Private and Public Partners Unite to Combat 10 Neglected Tropical Diseases by 2020". gatesfoundation.org. Press Room, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  7. ↑ Uniting to Combat NTDs (2012). "Endorsements (endorsing organizations)". unitingtocombatntds.org. Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases. Archived from the original on 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  8. ↑ "Progress in Combating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): U.S. and Global Efforts from FY2006 to FY2015". www.everycrsreport.com. 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  9. ↑ "Progress Reports of the London Declaration". Uniting to Combat NTDs. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  10. ↑ "Uniting to Combat NTDs program tackles infectious diseases with new world record". Guinness World Records. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  11. ↑ "Uniting to Combat NTDs programme sets record". BusinessGhana. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  12. ↑ The Lancet (2022-01-29). "Neglected tropical diseases: ending the neglect of populations". Lancet. 399 (10323): 411. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00161-1 . PMID   35093213.
  13. ↑ Hopkins, Donald R.; Ruiz-Tiben, Ernesto; Eberhard, Mark L.; Weiss, Adam; Withers, P. Craig; Roy, Sharon L.; Sienko, Dean G. (2018). "Dracunculiasis Eradication: Are We There Yet?". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 99 (2): 388–395. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.18-0204. ISSN   1476-1645. PMC   6090361 . PMID   29869608.
  14. ↑ Burki, Talha (2022-07-02). "New declaration on neglected tropical diseases endorsed". Lancet. 400 (10345): 15. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01237-5. PMID   35780782. S2CID   250150750.
  15. ↑ Malecela, Mwelecele N.; Ducker, Camilla (2021-01-28). "A road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021-2030". Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 115 (2): 121–123. doi:10.1093/trstmh/trab002. ISSN   1878-3503. PMC   7842088 . PMID   33508095.
  16. ↑ Hotez, Peter J.; Aksoy, Serap; Brindley, Paul J.; Kamhawi, Shaden (2020). "World neglected tropical diseases day". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 14 (1): e0007999. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007999 . ISSN   1935-2735. PMC   6988912 . PMID   31995572.
  17. ↑ Elphick-Pooley, Thoko; Engels, Dirk; Uniting to Combat NTDs (2022-01-28). "World NTD Day 2022 and a new Kigali Declaration to galvanise commitment to end neglected tropical diseases". Infectious Diseases of Poverty. 11 (1): 2. doi: 10.1186/s40249-021-00932-2 . PMC   8794616 . PMID   35086566.
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