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. 2021 Jan 28;115(2):136-144.
doi: 10.1093/trstmh/traa167.

Medicine donation programmes supporting the global drive to end the burden of neglected tropical diseases

Mark Bradley  1 , Rachel Taylor  2 , Julie Jacobson  3 , Morgane Guex  4 , Adrian Hopkins  5 , Julie Jensen  6 , Lynn Leonard  7 , Johannes Waltz  8 , Luc Kuykens  9 , Papa Salif Sow  10 , Ulrich-Dietmar Madeja  11 , Takayuki Hida  12 , Kileken Ole-Moiyoi  13 , Jonathan King  14 , Daniel Argaw  14 , Jamsheed Mohamed  15 , Maria Rebollo Polo  16 , Aya Yajima  17 , Eric Ottesen  18
Affiliations

Medicine donation programmes supporting the global drive to end the burden of neglected tropical diseases

Mark Bradley et al. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are targeted for global control or elimination. Recognising that the populations most in need of medicines to target NTDs are those least able to support and sustain them financially, the pharmaceutical industry created mechanisms for donating medicines and expertise to affected countries through partnerships with the WHO, development agencies, non-governmental organisations and philanthropic donors. In the last 30 y, companies have established programmes to donate 17 different medicines to overcome the burden of NTDs. Billions of tablets, capsules, intravenous and oral solutions have been donated, along with the manufacturing, supply chains and research necessary to support these efforts. Industry engagement has stimulated other donors to support NTDs with funds and oversight so that the 'heath benefit' return on investment in these programmes is truly a 'best value in public health'. Many current donations are 'open-ended', promising support as long as necessary to achieve defined health targets. Extraordinary global health advances have been made in filariasis, onchocerciasis, trachoma, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, intestinal parasites and others; and these advances are taking place in the context of strengthening health systems and meeting the global development goals espoused by the WHO. The pharmaceutical manufacturers, already strong collaborators in initiating or supporting these disease-targeted programmes, have committed to continuing their partnership roles in striving to meet the targets of the WHO's new NTD roadmap to 2030.

Keywords: 2030 NTD roadmap; endemic countries; medicine donations; neglected tropical diseases; partnerships; pharmaceutical companies.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Total number of reported cases of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) (gambiense and rhodesiense) per year (2000–2018).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Proportion of implementation units that have completed transmission assessment surveys (TAS) for lymphatic filariasis (LF) and no longer require mass drug administration (MDA) (by WHO region).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The number of school-aged children treated for soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) 2008–2109.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Evolution of numbers of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases, by WHO region, 1998–2018.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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