INNOVATION
{
Simple changes such as
running up the stairs
instead of taking a lift,
taking a brisk walk
after work, and doing
gardening contribute
to increased physical
activity every week
With an
estimated
1 billion people
receiving
treatment in
2015 alone, the
World Health
Organization
(WHO) reports
remarkable
achievements
in tackling
neglected
tropical diseases
(NTDs)
NTDs:
{
we’re
winning
the war
W
hile neglected tropical diseases blind, maim,
disfi gure, and debilitate hundreds of millions
of people in urban slums and in the poorest
parts of the world, approximately 90% of all NTDs can
be treated with medicines that are administered once or
twice annually.
Following the release of the WHO report, Integrating
• Only 25 human cases of Guinea-worm disease were
reported in 2016, putting eradication within reach.
• Cases of human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping
sickness) have been reduced from 37 000 new cases in
1999 to well under 3000 cases in 2015.
• Trachoma: the world’s leading infectious cause of
blindness - has been eliminated as a public health
neglected tropical diseases in global health and problem in Mexico, Morocco, and Oman. More than
development, last month at the Global Partners’ Meeting 185 000 trachoma patients had surgery for trichiasis
on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Geneva, this worldwide and more than 56 million people received
month the World Health Assembly will review proposals
for a new Global vector control response.
The WHO report demonstrates how strong political
support, generous donations of medicines, and
improvements in living conditions have led to sustained
expansion of disease control programmes in countries
where these diseases are most prevalent.
“WHO has observed record-breaking progress towards
bringing ancient scourges like sleeping sickness and
antibiotics in 2015 alone.
• Visceral leishmaniasis: in 2015 the target for
elimination was achieved in 82% of sub-districts in
India, 97% of sub-districts in Bangladesh, and in 100%
of districts in Nepal.
• Only 12 reported human deaths were attributable to
rabies in the WHO Region of the Americas in 2015,
bringing the region close to its target of eliminating
rabies in humans by 2015.
elephantiasis to their knees,” said WHO Director-General, Dr
Margaret Chan. “Over the past 10 years, millions of people However, the report highlights the need to further scale up
have been rescued from disability and poverty, thanks to action in other areas.
one of the most eff ective global partnerships in modern
public health”.
Since 2007, when a group of global partners met to agree
“Further gains in the fi ght against neglected tropical
diseases will depend on wider progress towards the
Sustainable Development Goals,” said Dr Dirk Engels,
to tackle NTDs together, a variety of local and international Director of the Department of Control of Neglected
partners have worked alongside ministries of health in Tropical Diseases. Meeting global targets for water and
endemic countries to deliver quality-assured medicines, sanitation will be key. WHO estimates that 2.4 billion
and provide people with care and long-term management. people still lack basic sanitation facilities such as
In 2012, partners endorsed a WHO NTD roadmap,
toilets and latrines, while more than 660 million
committing additional support and resources to continue t