DNDi's interventions:
Agenda item 6: Universal health coverage
The true test of UHC is the extent to which it addresses the needs of vulnerable populations – for example, NTDs, which affect 1.62 billion people globally, mostly in vulnerable and marginalized communities. Too often, existing health tools for these diseases have serious limitations that hamper the provision of care and can cause catastrophic health expenditure and impede disease control.
R&D can support UHC by delivering safe, effective, affordable health tools adapted to patient needs and designed for use at the primary healthcare level, close to the affected communities – reducing the need for specialist intervention in hospitals. Oral treatments and simpler point-of-care diagnostic tests are such examples.
At the UN High Level Meeting on UHC, Member States should include medical innovation and the delivery of missing health tools needed to address unmet needs and ensure no one is left behind. In addition, Member States should look for opportunities for R&D synergies and integration of access programmes across diseases.
Agenda item 9: Skin diseases as a global public health priority
DNDi supports the adoption of the resolution on ‘Skin Diseases as a Global Public Health Priority.’ Skin neglected tropical diseases (SNTDs) significantly impact communities in low- and middle-income countries. Detection and diagnosis remain limited, and many treatments are outdated and toxic.
The resolution’s inclusion of research and development for, and access to, missing health tools should be maintained. However, the current commercial biomedical R&D system overlooks the needs of people affected by SNTDs, resulting in limited treatment options. Without government intervention, these unmet medical needs will persist.
We urge Member States to:
- Support the development of health tools through collaborative R&D models with public, private, and nonprofit organizations that prioritize patient needs and leverage and strengthen local capacity;
- Mobilize domestic and international resources; and
- Train health workers to enhance community-level detection and screening for SNTDs.
Agenda item 14: Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health
Member States committed to support R&D to address the unmet needs of children and pregnant and lactating women via the resolution on maternal health and child mortality adopted at WHA77. Further action is needed to realize this commitment.
Children require specific formulations of drugs, which are often delayed, if developed at all. There are knowledge gaps on the impact of medicines on females, especially those who may become or are pregnant, or are lactating, as they are often excluded from research. This leads to delays in access to treatments.
We urge Member States to support and implement strategies to include women and children as early as possible in the drug development process to better meet their health needs. We also urge Member States to support implementation of the WHO led GAP-f five-year strategy to ensure that safe, effective, quality, and affordable paediatric formulations are developed and made available to children.
Agenda item 22: Climate change and health
We support Member States’ commitment to promote R&D to detect, prevent, test for, and treat climate-sensitive diseases via the Climate Change and Health resolution, and support the reiteration of this commitment as an action area in the Global Plan of Action. We urge Member States to retain R&D as an action area and support its implementation.
For many climate-sensitive infectious diseases, including many NTDs, inadequate investment in medical R&D threatens the world’s ability to adapt to the effects of climate change. Availability of and equitable access to tools such as medicines, diagnostics, and vaccines to respond to these diseases are vital to adaptation efforts and building resilient health systems. Without concerted action and investment, these tools will not be available for all.
We ask Member States to also promote further research to establish the links between climate change and NTDs and support the development of indicators on climate-sensitive diseases as part of the GPoA.
