| Founder(s) | Sabin Vaccine Institute |
|---|---|
| Type | NGO |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Key people | Neeraj Mistry |
| Area served | Tropics |
| Focus | Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Website | http://www.globalnetwork.org/ |
The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (GNNTD) 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.
The Global Network provides an advocacy platform for the broad NTD community that reaches the attention of policymakers, philanthropists, thought leaders, and the general public. Through that platform, the Global Network highlights the work—including implementation, research, advocacy, and policy efforts—of the NTD community at the local, national, and international levels. The Global Network collaborates closely with the World Health Organization and other technical agencies, NGOs, donors, and the broader public health community; together they support international organizations, governments, and afflicted communities that work through regional strategies to advocate for and implement NTD control and elimination programs.
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At the September 2006 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the launch of The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases—the first-ever global effort to combat NTDs in an integrated framework. At the time, NTD control was seen as a monumental task, with 1.4 billion people infected with and suffering from NTDs around the world. Over the last decade, several organizations on the ground had made significant progress on individual diseases, but reaching more people in need of treatment in a cost-effective way required an integrated approach to combating NTDs collectively.
In the years since the Global Network launched, it has experienced significant growth as it deepens its commitment to fighting NTDs around the world through resource mobilization and advocacy efforts. Simultaneously, through the work of Global Network collaborators, hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people are currently receiving a low-cost rapid-impact package of essential NTD drugs, enabling them to break out of a devastating cycle of poverty and disease. [1]
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of 13 parasitic and bacterial infections that infect approximately 1.4 billion of the world’s poorest people in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South East Asia. Together, they disable, disfigure, blind, and even kill, causing chronic morbidity that is on par with the “big three” global health threats: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
The Global Network focuses on the seven most common NTDs that together represent 90% of the total NTD disease burden. These seven are:
An integrated treatment approach, known as the rapid-impact package, treats the seven most common NTDs through a combination of four drugs.
In recent decades, the pharmaceutical industry has amassed an impressive track record of partnering with non-governmental organizations on large-scale treatment campaigns for NTDs. The drug donations themselves are valued at over US $1 billion and represent the largest drug donations in history. The few drugs that are not donated* are available at very low costs.
| Donor Company | Drug Donation | Disease Treated |
|---|---|---|
| Merck & Co. | MectizanTM (ivermectin) | Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis |
| Merck KGaA | Praziquantel | Schistosomiasis |
| MedPharm | Praziquantel | Schistosomiasis |
| GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) | Albendazole | Lymphatic Filariasis (also can be used to treat Ascariasis, Hookworm, and Trichuriasis) |
| Johnson & Johnson (J&J) | MebendazoleTM | Ascariasis |
| Pfizer | ZithromaxTM (azythromycin) | Trachoma |
*Diethylcarbamazine (DEC), one drug used to treat lymphatic filariasis, is not donated.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers have greatly increased the feasibility of control efforts by donating most of the drugs needed to treat the seven most common NTDs. This philanthropy reduces programmatic costs and enhances sustainability at the country level. In fact, long-term partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry allow Global Network members to provide the rapid-impact package at a cost of approximately 50 cents per person, per year.
The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases raises the profile of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and builds support for control and elimination activities through our efforts to educate, advocate, catalyze, and convene. It highlights efforts underway in the field, and connects global players and afflicted communities to increase access to vital medicines that can stop these illnesses and lift the world’s poorest people out of poverty. It works through three primary tracks:
Through a cost-effective approach, NTD control represents a “best buy” in public health, and—especially in this time of global economic constraint—a key mechanism by which it can achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. The Global Network also offers a new model for global health, coordinating the actions of a diverse group of allies and crafting effective strategies that empower countries and affected communities to take a lead role in eliminating these diseases. The Global Network relies on best practices from the private sector to ensure that these strategies are implemented effectively, and that results are measured consistently.
The Global Network is a recipient of two major Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants that help shape the goals and direction of its NTD advocacy efforts:
Grant 1: $3.8 million over 3 years (2/2008 - 2/2011)
Objectives:
Grant 2: $34 million over 5 years (1/2009 – 1/2014)
Objectives:
The Global Network and its members have worked in Washington, D.C. and beyond to generate exciting momentum in the push to establish NTDs as a critical policy issue in global health.
Major milestones in NTD policy:
February 2008: U.S. President George W. Bush announces 5-year, $350 million commitment to fight NTDs in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
July 2008: For the first time ever, NTDs are placed on the agenda at the G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan
September 2008: British Department for International Development (DFID) announces a £50 million commitment to control and eliminate guinea worm and a number of other common NTDs.
September 2008: U.S. President Bill Clinton calls Sabin President Dr. Peter Hotez on stage with him and Gordon Brown at the closing plenary session of the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. President Clinton highlights the work of the Global Network and recommends that those listening donate to NTD control.
April 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama unveils new Global Health Initiative, which calls for the control and elimination of NTDs as one of four critical global health pillars.
July 2009: Leaders at the G8 Summit in L’Acquilla, Italy state: “We will implement further efforts towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010…We will combine this with actions to: combat TB and Malaria; address the spread of Neglected Tropical Diseases and work towards completing the task of polio eradication.”
July 2009: U.S. President Obama discusses NTDs in his keynote speech in Ghana during his first trip to Africa.
February 2010: The Obama Administration unveils the 2011 United States federal budget and the details of the Global Health Initiative, including a budget of $155 million for NTDs, a 138% increase over the previous year.
A number of high-profile individuals have generously donated their time, energy, and in some cases money to assist the Global Network in raising the profile of and treating NTDs:
In June 2007, Alyssa Milano became the Global Network's first ambassador. Milano, an actress and active philanthropist, was introduced to the Global Network through her involvement with the Clinton Global Initiative. Upon hearing a panel discussion on NTDs that included Dr. Peter Hotez (President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute) and former President Jimmy Carter, she pledged to dedicate time, effort and funds to promote advocacy, policy and partnerships in the global fight against NTDs.
Milano's first action as ambassador was to pledge $250,000 to the Global Network. The Global Network and its member organizations used Milano's first-year donation to develop a full-scale implementation program to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in Myanmar. More specifically, 12 million tablets of DEC, an antiparasitic drug that is part of the rapid-impact package, were purchased to treat 4 million individuals. In 2008, Milano’s second-year donation went toward the purchase of DEC to treat LF in Haiti. Her donation will allow for the treatment of over one-third of Haiti’s entire population.
In July 2008, the Global Network announced Tommy G. Thompson as a Global Ambassador. Thompson is the former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and four-term Governor of Wisconsin. Secretary Thompson will represent the NTD community as an advocate on Capitol Hill and as a leader in global health. He will also champion global medical diplomacy as a crucial part of United States foreign and defense policies.
In August 2008, Secretary Thompson traveled through Rwanda as part of his first medical diplomacy mission on behalf of the Global Network. There, he had the opportunity to join Rwanda’s Ministry of Health in launching the first-ever national deworming campaign in the Nyaruguru District as part of its Mother/Child Health Week. The event dewormed 3.8 million people for soil-transmitted helminthes and treated 107,000 people for schistosomiasis.
In November 2009, Dr. Andy Baldwin was announced as a Grassroots Ambassador for the Global Network. Dr. Baldwin, a US Navy doctor, humanitarian, and star of The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman, will work to raise public awareness of NTDs. Dr. Baldwin will play a key role in the Global Network's signature grassroots project, the Campus Challenge, encouraging students to start fund raising campaigns in the school or community. Dr. Baldwin will also promote medical diplomacy efforts by engaging in NTD prevention and treatment during his humanitarian work. As part of the SOUTHCOM mission which began May 29th, Dr. Baldwin had a special focus on NTDs, which impact over 230 million people in the region.
Sabin Vaccine Institute
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases Press Center End the Neglect Blog