[afro-nets] One billion at risk from neglected tropical diseases: WHO

["Claudio Schuftan" <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

One billion at risk from neglected tropical diseases: WHO
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GENEVA (AFP) - One billion people worldwide are affected by neglected but debilitating tropical diseases despite treatment costs that are as low as 50 US cents per person, the World Health Organisation said Thursday.

The global health body said there was now an "unprecedented commitment" to eradicate the diseases, which are mainly present in Africa and Latin America.

"This commitment comes from political leaders and ministries of health in affected countries, from development agencies and banks, foundations, scientists, and some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies," the WHO said in a statement.

The WHO classes 14 infectious diseases as "neglected," including guinea worm and leprosy. They are mostly spread by flies and mosquitoes in impoverished tropical climates.

The director of the neglected tropical diseases department at the WHO, Lorenzo Savioli, told journalists that tackling the diseases collectively rather than individually would lead to greater effectiveness.

"We need to move to a different level of commitment... to give them (the treatment programmes) the visibility and the standing that they need," he said.

WHO director general Margaret Chan on Thursday signed an agreement with German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA to fight the parasitic worm disease schistosomiasis, which can cause severe anaemia and stunt children's growth and development.

Under the agreement, Merck will donate 200 million tablets of the drug praziquantel worth some 80 million dollars (59 million euros) over a 10 year period.

Such public-private partnerships are key to providing free treatment for the world's poorest populations and to eradicate the diseases altogether, WHO Assistant Director General for communicable diseases David Heymann told journalists.

"These partnerships have been stimulated because these diseases, unlike many others, are finite. There is an end point," he said.

"These diseases many times can be eliminated from the world or eradicated provided the strategies are right," he added.

WHO is involved in about eight such partnerships.

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Claudio Schuftan 
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn