More than one billion people around the world are affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). NTDs mostly occur in tropical climates and disproportionately affect people who are already vulnerable, whether due to poverty or marginalization. These diseases are neglected because they are not profitable to research, so there is too little research for better treatments and diagnostics.
As part of our work developing urgently needed treatments for people with neglected diseases, World NTD Day is an important moment for us to raise awareness.
Our call for innovation to eliminate NTDs!
We used social media to raise awareness for the people affected by NTDs and the need for innovation to develop better treatments for these diseases. Thank you to all the supporters who helped us advocate for #InnovatingTogether to end the neglect.
You can still help us spread the word by sharing messages on social media!
Raising awareness around the world
We gathered with partners, healthcare providers, and communities around the world to celebrate the achievements we have made so far and discuss ways to overcome the challenges that still prevent medical innovation from reaching people living with NTDs.
France
We hosted an event with Institut Pasteur on neglected diseases, focusing on the successes, challenges, and alternative models of innovation. This event reflected on the past 20 years of innovation and partnerships through a non-profit pharmaceutical research model.
Germany
Together with UAEM, DNDi organized an event at Charité showing our film ‘Out of the Shadows’ and including speakers from Médecins Sans Frontières, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung, and UAEM Europe.
India
We hosted an event on ‘Champions of Change’ honouring health workers and kala-azar survivors who supported the national elimination program on World NTD Day 2024 at Sadar Hospital in the Saran district in Bihar. Speaking at the event, Dr Krishna Pandey, director of Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRI), Patna, emphasized the need for all stakeholders’ collective action to sustain the kala-azar elimination over the next few years. He said DNDi’s Centres of Excellence for Leishmaniasis in Saran and Purnea districts have made treatment and diagnosis for complicated kala-azar cases, such as PKDL, readily available.
The event was covered in the press by local media outlets.
Japan
The World NTD Day Japan Preparatory Committee hosted a webinar bringing together industry, government, and academic institutions working on NTDs in Japan in order to deepen the understanding of NTDs in Japan and to further promote the movement toward elimination by collaborating with partners involved in NTDs.
The event included the first student contest about NTDs where 20 students competed in 11 shortlisted teams on the themes of either ‘Communicate NTDs in an easy-to-understand way’ or ‘Think about what we can do for NTDs’. The contest was planned and organized by the NTDs Youth Organization.
Kenya
In collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) East Africa, we hosted a webinar on bridging treatment gaps for NTDs with the goal of elimination. Samuel Kariuki and Simon Bolo spoke about the impact of climate change on the spread of NTDs and DNDi’s work in improving access to treatments.
Spain
We were invited by the Murcia Society of Preventive Medicine and Public Health to join their webinar titled ‘Neglected diseases: Global and public health perspective. The example of sleeping sickness’. Olaf Valverde and Terín Beca Martínez presented on the progress made towards the elimination of sleeping sickness.
On February 26, our team also participated at an event on neglected fungal diseases at Real Academia Nacional de Medicina in Spain. The event is co-organized by the academy, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Fundación CSAI.
Sweden
We participated in a webinar hosted by SILF, the Swedish Society of Tropical Medicine, Doctors Without Borders, and Mediahuset. Sabine Specht presented about new and repurposed drugs for NTDs.
United Kingdom
In London, the UK Coalition against NTDs and APPG on Malaria and NTDs organized an event at the UK Parliament entitled ‘Women, girls, and ending neglected diseases of poverty: Time to Unite, Act, and Eliminate’ highlighting the impact of NTDs on women and girls on World NTD day. Dinu Guruge presented our work on dengue through the Dengue Alliance and the need for global collaboration to eliminate NTDs.
Online
We were invited to enjoy a webinar hosted by Internews titled ‘World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day: Overview, progress and highlights‘ discussing NTDs, their root causes, and what is being done to eliminate them.
Neglected tropical diseases in the media
On the occasion of World NTD Day, we shared messages through editorial opinion articles:
- 세계 10억 명을 위한 소외질병 연구 지원, 한국이 필요하다 by Dr Luis Pizarro, Executive Director of DNDi, published in Segye Ilbo
The new 2023 G-FINDER report, released around World NTD Day, revealed that global investment in R&D for NTDs flatlined from 2021 to 2022, representing the lowest levels of annual investment in medical innovation for NTDs since 2009. Media attention is vital to keep up investment in research for neglected diseases, so we were pleased to see the world’s media pay greater attention to NTDs with some prominent reporting:
- Infobae: Día Mundial de las Enfermedades Tropicales Desatendidas: qué son y por qué es importante prevenir y controlar los brotes
- DW: India on the verge of eliminating ‘black fever’ kala-azar
- RFI: Journée Mondiale des Maladies Tropicales Négligées
- Citizen TV Kenya: Kenya seeks to eradicate 20 neglected tropical diseases
- Punto Por Punto: OMS urge inversión para tratar enfermedades tropicales que afectan a localidades pobres
- Radio Okapi: Quelles sont les avancées et les défis à relever dans la lutte contre les MTN ?
- Astro Awani: NTD DAY: Expanding research into Dengue treatment
