Scaling up investment to tackle leprosy, dengue fever, sleeping sickness and other neglected tropical diseases will improve the health and well-being of more than 1.5bn people. This is according to the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) at the launch of a new report stressing that countries must make firm and sustainable budgetary commitments if they are to meet the agency's targets and accelerate progress.
Neglected tropical diseases cause blindness, disfigurement, permanent disability and death, particularly among the poor. And according to WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan: "Increased investments by national governments can alleviate human misery, distribute economic gains more evenly and free masses of people long trapped in poverty."
The WHO report said that investing in measures to tackle 17 diseases tropical would represent as little as 0.1% of current domestic expenditure on health in affected low- and middle-income countries for the period 2015-2030.
A key feature of the report is that for the first time, it sets out financing needs, options, and targets for meeting WHO Roadmap goals by 2020, but also for reaching universal coverage of all people in need by 2030. It sets targets for ending catastrophic health expenditures and, as part of the drive to strengthen health systems, for getting services closer to where people live.
Many countries have recognised the importance and cost effectiveness of investing in preventing and treating neglected tropical diseases. More than 70 countries are already implementing or ready to kick off national plans for accelerated control, according to WHO.
[link url="http://allafrica.com/stories/201502200408.html"]WHO release[/link]
[link url="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/152781/1/9789241564861_eng.pdf"]WHO report[/link]