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Five years, seven diseases, 30 countries, $350 million

26 Feb 2008

Joao Souza

Source: US White House (see original article)

US President George Bush announced, during his recent African tour, a new initiative that will see US$350 million funding devoted over the next five years to help combat seven neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The aim is to provide integrated treatment for more than 300 million people.

The seven major NTDs to be targeted are: lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis); schistosomiasis (snail fever); trachoma (eye infection); onchocerciasis (river blindness); and three soil-transmitted helminthiases (STHs – hookworm, roundworm, whipworm).

The investment of $350 million represents more than a 20-fold expansion from the $15 million which was previously to be devoted for NTDs for 2008. The number of countries which will benefit will rise from 10 last year to approximately 30 by 2013.

Furthermore, as stated by The White House, President Bush has challenged other donors, including G-8 partners, foundations and public, private and voluntary organizations to complement US commitments by providing collectively an additional $650 million to close the funding gap for treatment of NTDs in the countries that are most affected by these diseases.

Regrettably, some important NTDs will not be covered in the new initiative: leishmaniasis, dengue, Chagas disease, leprosy and HAT (human African trypanosomiasis).

During President Bush’s tour, he visited five African countries: Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia. Discussions on health issues included a meeting with President Yayi of Benin, where with US support, the government has launched one of the largest anti-malaria campaigns, designed to reach all children under the age of five. In Tanzania, President Bush toured several facilities, including a textile mill that produces insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria, and a school and a local hospital. According to a White House spokesman: ‘To date, the Presidential Malaria Initiative has provided spraying operations that have protected nearly 170,000 residents, procured and dispersed nearly 700,000 treatments of combination therapies, and provided roughly 1.9 million bed nets for targeting particularly infants and pregnant women’.

Comment

The new funding is welcomed in a comment on the Public Library of Science blog by Peter Hotez, Editor in Chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

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