Malaria & Neglected Tropical Diseases

A PROMOTIONAL SUPPLEMENT DISTRIBUTED ON BEHALF OF MEDIAPLANET, WHICH TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS We can end NTDs but we must show our commitment now 2022: A pivotal moment for a more equal world Incredible progress has been made against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) but there is still work to be done. The Kigali Declaration on NTDs, a new political declaration, provides the opportunity to end NTDs. NTDs are a group of 20 diseases that affect 1.7 billion people globally; they can debilitate, disfigure and kill. These diseases include elephantiasis, rabies, river blindness and trachoma. We call these diseases neglected because they affect the world’s poorest and they receive less attention than other diseases. The effects of NTDs are devastating, they impair cognitive and physical development in children. They lead to school and work absences, particularly in women and girls who are often responsible for caring for their family. They also cost the economies of endemic countries billions of dollars and can trap communities in cycles of poverty. Recognising the success so far Over the past decade, incredible progress has been made against NTDs. So far, 44 countries have eliminated at least one NTD and 600 million people no longer require treatment for NTDs. Some of these diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries, such as leprosy, sleeping sickness and guinea worm disease are also at an alltime low. This shows that ending NTDs is within our power, but there is still work to be done. The Kigali Declaration on NTDs pushes us forward The Kigali Declaration on NTDs is a new high-level political declaration that will launch later in 2022 at the Kigali Summit on <strong>Malaria</strong> and NTDs, alongside the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. The Kigali Declaration will put country ownership of NTD programmes, integration and cross-sectoral collaboration at the front and centre to ensure that these programmes are sustainable in the long term. The Declaration provides the opportunity to mobilise the political will, community commitment, resources and action needed to end unnecessary suffering from NTDs. Signatories of this declaration pledge to do their part to ensure that NTDs are eradicated, eliminated or controlled by 2030. Commitment to ending NTDs is needed By working together, adopting peoplecentred approaches and working across sectors in an integrated manner, we can end NTDs and achieve WHO 2030 NTD road map targets. Now is the moment for leaders, donors, companies and organisations to make endorsements behind the Kigali Declaration and show they are 100% committed to ending NTDs. These commitments will help relieve needless suffering, decrease the health-related drivers of poverty, make our health systems more resilient and our world an equitable and safer place. For more information visit 100percentcommitted.com WRITTEN BY Thoko Elphick-Pooley Executive Director, Uniting to Combat <strong>Neglected</strong> <strong>Tropical</strong> <strong>Diseases</strong> Ending malaria and NTDs will save lives, advance equity and build resilience. Over the past two years, no country has been spared the impacts of COVID-19, a deadly infectious disease that killed millions, infected millions and devastated communities, economies and health systems. The same impacts can be attributed to malaria and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) however, these diseases have been around for millennia and typically prey on the world’s poorest in Africa. Ending preventable and treatable diseases In 2000, global leaders committed funding and action to reduce cases and deaths caused by these diseases. Thanks to this strong political will and increased funding, by 2015 malaria deaths were cut by over half and more than 5 billion NTD preventive treatments were delivered. The tremendous progress achieved through global collaboration and commitment prompted more ambition to end these preventable and treatable diseases by 2030. In the case of malaria, a turning point was the launch of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and <strong>Malaria</strong>. Significantly, 20 years later, the Global Fund, working with the US President’s <strong>Malaria</strong> Initiative and country partners, has saved 44 million lives. But in the last two years, progress has slowed and cases and deaths are on the rise. With challenges of drug and insecticide resistance, COVID-19 and humanitarian emergencies, the world is at a precarious juncture in the fight against malaria. Better prepared for better results However, there is hope on the horizon. Thanks to greater country ownership, better use of data and targeting of existing and new tools, a pipeline of transformative tools and strong political will. And, if governments, the private sector, communities and partners come together later this year to fulfil the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment goal of at least USD 18 billion, we can turbocharge progress again toward a malaria-free future. By mobilising new funding, we can scale up existing and breakthrough tools, including new nets and vaccines and better target interventions to the local context. We also must invest more in research and development to deliver transformative new tools, such as second-generation vaccines, that will accelerate our path to malaria eradication. Critically, these innovative approaches will also help countries strengthen their health systems, allowing them to better protect citizens against malaria and NTDs and be better prepared for future pandemics. With COVID, we’ve seen what the world can do when it comes together. Let’s recommit to saving millions more lives from malaria and NTDs, invest in health and deliver a more equitable world for all. WRITTEN BY Dr Corine Karema Interim CEO, RBM Partnership to End <strong>Malaria</strong> Read more at campaign.co.uk @GlobalcauseUK @MediaplanetUK Contact information: [email protected] or +44 (0) 203 642 0737 Please recycle Industry Manager: Benedetta Marchesi [email protected] Campaign Assistant: Mia Huelsbeck Managing Director: Alex Williams Head of Strategic Partnerships: Roz Boldy | Head of Production: Kirsty Elliott Senior Designer: Thomas Kent Design & Content Assistant: Aimee Rayment | Digital Manager: Harvey O’Donnell Paid Media Strategist: Jonni Asfaha Social & Web Editor: Henry Phillips Digital Assistant: Carolina Galbraith Duarte | All images supplied by Gettyimages, unless otherwise specified 02 MEDIAPLANET READ MORE AT GLOBALCAUSE.CO.UK

A PROMOTIONAL SUPPLEMENT DISTRIBUTED ON BEHALF OF MEDIAPLANET, WHICH TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS Image provided by The Carter Center This is how we finish off Guinea worm In the past 200 years, humankind has made incredible progress against many threats to health: vaccines, medicines and other innovations have saved millions of lives from feared killers, from malaria to cancer. But only one human disease – smallpox – has ever been eradicated. WRITTEN BY Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General, World Health Organization WRITTEN BY Jason Carter Chair, Board of Trustees, The Carter Center Find out more at cartercenter.org A massive campaign has now driven polio to the brink of eradication, but less noticed by the rest of the world, we stand on the threshold of consigning another disease to the history books: Guinea worm. While Guinea worm is largely unknown to people in highincome countries, it has afflicted people in Africa, Asia and the Middle East for millennia. Last year there were just 15 reported cases of Guinea worm disease, compared with an estimated 3.5 million in 1986, when The Carter Center and the World Health Organization launched the Guinea Worm Eradication Program. Since then, our two organisations have worked closely with governments, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and partners including the United Arab Emirates, which hosted the Guinea Worm Summit in Abu Dhabi in late March. The official name of Guinea worm is Dracunculus medinensis, which derives from the Latin for “little dragon,” and for good reason. People contract the disease by drinking untreated water that contains tiny fleas that harbour larvae, which grow in the intestine into worms up to one metre long. About a year later, they emerge through painful blisters on the skin. Those infected can’t work or go to school while a worm is emerging. Extracting a worm from the body can take a week or longer and is an excruciating process. There is no vaccine to prevent infection and no medicine to treat it. But what pharmaceuticals couldn’t do, the Guinea Worm Eradication Program has accomplished with humble water filters, a basic larvicide, and the partnership of millions of people, in some of the world’s poorest countries, who made simple changes in their behaviour. Of course, simple doesn’t mean effortless or troublefree. Progress has been bumpy, complicated by poverty, the remoteness of affected communities, storms, floods, droughts, conflict, and, most recently, a pandemic. In 1995, former US President Jimmy Carter had to negotiate a cease fire to enable health workers safe passage in the midst of Sudan’s civil war. Through all this, the communities in which we work have taken ownership and continued their unceasing efforts. Today, Guinea worm disease remains endemic in just five countries: Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan. Two other countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan – are on the path to being certified free of the disease. Although Cameroon is certified, it is addressing recent cross-border infections. At the Summit in the UAE, we joined Ministry of Health representatives to discuss the Abu Dhabi Declaration on the Eradication of Guinea Worm Disease. The declaration reaffirms that the governments of the endemic countries and we, their partners, will work urgently for eradication by 2030. It calls for active leadership nationally and locally, sufficient budget support, robust implementation of interventions, transparent communication, rapid provision of safe water everywhere and safety for health workers. Preventing the spread of Guinea worm from one country to another is also critical to accelerate the global interruption of transmission and requires strengthening cross-border surveillance and collaboration. Several countries have made commendable efforts in this direction, with support from WHO. We applaud the leaders of the countries who made these commitments, but they can’t do it alone. Now other global leaders need to marshal the sustained funding to finish the job. The last mile of disease eradication is complex, and momentum can wane as the numbers get close to zero, especially as other urgent health crises emerge. But if we fall short of eradication, the disease could return to its former levels, which would bring needless suffering and economic challenges to poor communities. We stand tantalisingly close to a monumental victory for public health – and for humanity. The eradication of Guinea worm will be the fulfilment of President Carter’s vision and the culmination of decades of difficult and often dangerous work in partnership with some of the poorest, most isolated, most marginalised people on Earth. The real heroes in the Guinea worm story are the thousands of volunteers in more than 23,000 villages who do the hard work in their own communities. Defeating this scourge is a triumph of persistence and people, more than technology and medicine. Village by village, across sub- Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, citizens have mobilised and organised to safely treat water sources, distribute filters, and spread the word on how to change behaviours to protect themselves and their children. The victory will be theirs when, sometime before the end of the decade, 15 cases become zero. To get there, all of us must do our part to travel the last mile in eradication and move toward a world free of Guinea worm and the terrible suffering it brings. Paid for by The Carter Center READ MORE AT GLOBALCAUSE.CO.UK MEDIAPLANET 03