16.05.2022 Views

Malaria & Neglected Tropical Diseases

Highlighting the commitment from the Kigali declaration and looking at how we can deliver political and financial commitment to eradicate malaria and NTDs and avoid resurgence. This Mediaplanet campaign was distributed with the Guardian newspaper and launched on www.globalcause.co.uk on 16-May 2022

Highlighting the commitment from the Kigali declaration and looking at how we can deliver political and financial commitment to eradicate malaria and NTDs and avoid resurgence.
This Mediaplanet campaign was distributed with the Guardian newspaper and launched on www.globalcause.co.uk on 16-May 2022

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

A PROMOTIONAL SUPPLEMENT DISTRIBUTED ON BEHALF OF MEDIAPLANET, WHICH TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS

Tackling malaria and

NTDs contributes to more

resilient health systems

People living in fragile settings are the most at risk

of contracting malaria and NTDs yet they are the

least likely to have access to adequate health care.

Building the capacity of local health

facilities and community health

workers to prevent, diagnose and treat

malaria and NTDs in fragile settings

can lead to more resilient health systems and

greater global health security overall.

According to Dr Lali Chania, Tanzania

Country Director of IMA World Health:

“Health systems in fragile settings, if

they exist at all, are beset by external and

internal challenges, including but not

limited to violence, lack of infrastructure

and resources, corruption, access inequities,

weak governance and limited human capital.

Yet fragile settings have a higher disease

burden than other low-income countries.”

Poor public health perpetuates the cycles

of poverty and fragility and vice versa.

As the number of fragile settings increases,

so too does global insecurity and economic

instability. That is why IMA World Health

is committed to health systems

strengthening in fragile settings.

Building on malaria and NTD programming

successes

“The local partnerships, trust and capacities

we have built through our malaria and NTD

programming in fragile settings are key for

any health systems strengthening efforts

to be successful in these complex

environments,” says Chania.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo

and South Sudan, the organisation has

collaborated with local health facilities

to improve access to malaria prevention,

diagnostic and treatment services for more

than 11.4 million people.

Across Tanzania and Haiti, 28.8 million

people are no longer at risk for lymphatic

filariasis since IMA has strengthened the

capacity of local health systems to sustainably

administer NTD control measures. IMA’s

health partners in these fragile settings are

leveraging these capacities to meet other

critical health care needs.

Dr Chania suggests: “The surveillance

and case-based notification and response

capacities required to eliminate malaria

and NTDs are also what is required to stop

epidemics from becoming pandemics, like

COVID-19. Integrating those capacities into

health systems will not only improve that

system’s resilience to the shocks common

in fragile settings, it will improve global

health security.”

Paid for by IMA World Health

Find out more at

imaworldhealth.org

WRITTEN BY

Dr Lali Chania

Director, IMA

Tanzania Country

Investing in

ending malaria

and NTDs for

a safer world

A world free of malaria and NTDs is

possible. Investing now to end these

diseases will save millions of lives and

protect against future pandemics.

This year, the global community has two

historic opportunities to recommit to

ending malaria and neglected tropical

diseases (NTDs)—by mobilising at least USD

18 billion to replenish the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria and by supporting the

Kigali Declaration on NTDs to deliver the targets set

in the World Health Organization’s NTD Roadmap

(2021-2030).

Supporting national malaria and NTD programs

Enormous strides have been made against these

diseases since 2000. Global Fund investments helped

scale up lifesaving interventions, contributing

to over 10 million deaths averted from malaria.

The 2012 London Declaration on NTDs, signed by

governments, pharmaceutical companies, endemic

countries, global health organisations, and the Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation, nearly doubled medicine

donations by the pharmaceutical industry—reaching

over a billion people a year from 2017 to 2019.

Yet these diseases continue to take lives and put

billions of people at risk— and COVID-19 further

hinders progress.

We can end malaria and NTDs and keep us safer

from future health threats. By supporting national

malaria and NTD programs that drive progress

against these diseases, boosting investments, and

better integrating these programs into national

health systems millions of lives can be improved

and saved.

Community-based disease monitoring and tracking

With the goal of ending malaria and NTDs, the Gates

Foundation co-invests and partners with national

programs, pharmaceutical companies, product

development partnerships, research institutes

and global and local NGOs. A primary focus is on

increasing the use of digitised data systems for realtime

disease monitoring to better target delivery of

interventions.

For example, Initiatives like Visualize No More

Malaria and the Lymphatic Filariasis Campaign

Digitization in India are generating valuable insights

at the community level that support decision-makers

to transform healthcare delivery.

Community health workers are at the heart of

national malaria and NTD programs, providing

essential services for millions of people—often in

remote regions. The trust built with the communities

they serve provides a foundation for digitised disease

©Speak Up Africa

monitoring and adaptation of services to emerging

health needs, like COVID-19, showcasing how investments

in malaria and NTDs can help prevent future

pandemics.

Increased financial and political commitments

We are already seeing examples of commitments

and approaches that are helping malaria and NTD

programs to drive lasting progress.

Twenty five sub-Saharan African countries

have launched local Zero Malaria Starts with Me

campaigns and End Malaria Councils to mobilise

country resources and action. The African Union

and Uniting to Combat NTDs recently signed an

agreement to end NTDs by 2030. We are also seeing

critical accountability mechanisms emerge with the

integration of NTDs into national health strategies

and the African Leaders Malaria Alliance scorecard.

To support this stepped-up leadership, global

leaders must join in solidarity and increase funding

to deliver a safer, more equitable world free of malaria

and NTDs.

WRITTEN BY

Katey Einterz Owen

Director, Neglected

Tropical Diseases,

Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation

WRITTEN BY

Philip Welkhoff

Director, Malaria,

Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation

©Speak Up Africa

Community health workers are at the

heart of national malaria and NTD

programs, providing essential services

for millions of people.

04 MEDIAPLANET

READ MORE AT GLOBALCAUSE.CO.UK

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!