The Neglected Tropical Disease Non-governmental Development Organization Network (NNN): the value and future of a global network aiming to control and eliminate NTDs.

Abstract

The Neglected Tropical Disease Non-governmental Development Organization Network (NNN) (www.ntdngdonetwork.org) is a global forum for non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs) working to control or eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs): currently including, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis (SCH), soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) and trachoma. Each of these diseases has elimination as a target where feasible and each receives generous donations of medicines from the pharmaceutical industry. The NNN was formed at a meeting in Accra, Ghana, in September 2009 when several existing NTD-specific coordination groups combined forces following a general trend towards integrated NTD control and elimination. Today, the NNN is composed of five NTD-specific NGDO coordination groups: the LF NGDO Network; the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC) (http://www.trachomacoalition.org/node/873); the NGDO Coordination Group for Onchocerciasis Elimination; the SCH/STH NGDO Coordination Group; and the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP) (http://www.ilepfederation.org/ about-us/history-of-ilep/). In addition to these five diseasecoordination groups, the NNN has two thematic working groups: 1. Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), and 2. Disease Management, Disability and Inclusion (DMDI). These working groups allow NNN members to address key cross-cutting issues that are common to the targeted NTDs. Together, these coordinating and working groups (Figure 1 and Table 1) comprise nearly 80 NGDO members of the NNN, working directly to support the world’s most underserved populations suffering from the NTDs by: