About the Neglected Tropical Disease Control Program

Overview     

New! NTD Control Program's June 2009 newsletter is now available.

You can also take a look at our updated program poster, or watch this video, as Operations Director Mary Linehan highlights NTD Control Program work in Ghana.

                                     

An estimated one billion people worldwide are affected by one or more neglected tropical diseases. These diseases disproportionately impact the poor and rural populations, who lack access to safe water, sanitation, and essential medicines. They cause sickness and disability, compromise children’s mental and physical development, and result in blindness and severe disfigurement.
 
In September 2006, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Control Program, the first global effort to support country programs to integrate and scale up delivery of preventive chemotherapy for five targeted NTDs: lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), schistosomiasis (bilharzia; snail fever), trachoma (blinding eye infection), onchocerciasis (river blindness) and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (intestinal worm infection).

Medication distributed at an MDA. Photo by Helen Keller International
Research has shown that when these drugs are provided to at-risk populations annually over successive years, NTDs may be eliminated or reduced to a prevalence rate at which they no longer pose a threat to public health. For example:
  • Lymphatic filariasis has been all but eliminated in Egypt after five annual cycles of mass drug administration of albendazole and diethylcarbamazine (DEC). 
  • Trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. In Morocco, mass distribution of Zithromax® as part of a complete SAFE strategy (surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, and environmental improvements) has virtually eliminated the disease.
  • With assistance from the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, schistosomiasis prevalence in Egypt has been reduced from around 20 to less than 1-2 using praziquantel over the last two decades.

Leveraging the generous donations by Merck, Pfizer, GSK and Johnson & Johnson of the proven effective treatments for NTDs (Mectizan®, Zithromax®, praziquantel, albendazole and mebendazole), the Program provides critical funding to allow countries receiving these donated drugs to scale up treatment. 

 
Our Program supports national disease control programs' efforts to expand their existing disease-specific control programs by integrating mass drug campaigns for co-endemic NTDs. Especially where NTDs are co-endemic, excellent opportunities exist for cost-efficiencies resulting from streamlined service delivery.

Key Program Elements

Implementation of integrated NTD control programs through grantees who support Ministries of Health to integrate and scale up coverage of drug treatment. Initially operating in five countries poised to expand and integrate existing vertical disease-specific programs, the Program is developing models for integrating control of NTDs. The Program will measure effectiveness of various approaches, with the goal of scaling up the most successful models, and focusing on the following priorities:  
  • Integration of planning, implementation, supervision and monitoring
  • Capacity development of country implementers resulting from working through existing government health systems
  • Developing tools for integration, such as guidelines for implementation and tools for planning, budgeting and monitoring
Grants for country programs are provided to NGOs in support of Ministries of Health national integrated NTD control programs. In the first year of the program, grants supported the national NTD control programs of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Uganda.  Three additional grants for Haiti, South Sudan, and Sierra Leone were awarded for year two, and two grants for Nepal and Bangladesh will begin in year three. Additional grants are awarded through a competitive application process.
 
A Technical Advisory Group assures the program is guided by state-of-the-art scientific findings, best practices and lessons learned.
Documenting and disseminating best practices through program reports highlighting best practices, peer-reviewed journal articles, a program website, and representation at major international conferences.
Mobilizing resources for NTD control.
The Program advocates at local and international levels to mobilize the resources required to achieve goals of disease elimination and control.
 
Additionality. The Program works with governments committed to integrated NTD control by supplementing existing government resources and donor support. This additional funding allows them countries' integrated NTD control program to achieve expanded coverage of at-risk populations. 
 
The Program is part of a larger global initiative and works closely with key global NTD partners and donors to advocate for global policies and initiatives to prioritize treatment and control of NTDs.