Enlarging the “Audacious Goal”: Elimination of the world's high prevalence neglected tropical diseases

Abstract

The high prevalence neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) exhibit a global disease burden that exceeds malaria, tuberculosis, and other better known global health conditions; they also represent a potent force in trapping the world's poorest people in poverty. Through extremely low cost national programs of disease mapping and mass drug administration (MDA) for the seven most common NTDs, integrated NTD control and elimination efforts are now in place in more than 14 countries through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the British Department for International Development (DFID), and the Global Network for NTDs and its partners. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2008 some 670 million people in 75 countries received NTD treatments through these and other sponsored programs. With continued successes the next decade could witness the global elimination of blinding trachoma, human Africa trypanosomiasis (HAT), lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, trachoma, and leprosy as public health problems, in addition to the eradication of dracunculiasis. For other high prevalence NTDs, including hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, new drugs and vaccines may still be required. Increasingly it is recognized that the high prevalence NTDs exhibit extensive geographic overlap and polyparasitism is commonly found throughout the world's low income countries. Therefore, global elimination will also require integrated packages of drugs together with vaccine-linked chemotherapy. Ultimately, the global elimination of the high prevalence NTDs will require continued large-scale support from the U.S. Government and selected European governments, however, the emerging market economies, such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and Nigeria, and wealthy countries in the Middle East will also have to substantially contribute.