Meeting on the President’s Initiative for NTD Control

	Source: Andrea Peterson, 2007.

Background: On February 20, 2008, President Bush announced a new Presidential Initiative for NTD Control.  The Initiative seeks to make a major contribution to the worldwide effort to control seven major NTDs by providing integrated treatment to 300 million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America over five years. This new Initiative will build on USAID’s existing NTD Control Program.

Purpose of Meeting: To contribute to the planning for implementation of the Initiative, USAID held a Stakeholders’ meeting on NTD Control that included invited participants from various U.S. Government agencies, Ministry of Health representatives from disease endemic countries, the NTD scientific community, pharmaceutical partners, NGO implementation partners, and other donor partners. The meeting was co-hosted by USAID, CDC, and WHO. View the final agenda [PDF, 32KB] .

Presentations:

• The U.S. Presidential Initiative for NTDs – Challenges and Opportunities to Countries and the Commitment of Governments [PDF, 39KB]
• USAID Overview of the President's NTD Initiative [PDF, 300KB]
• NTDs – Targets of Opportunity [PDF, 1.2MB]
• NTDs Hidden Successes, Emerging Opportunities [PDF, 2MB]

The objectives of the two-day meeting included:

• Ensuring standard understanding of the Presidential Initiative

• Attaining a common understanding of the needs as expressed by countries, along with views from partners and the pharmaceutical sector to reach the goals set by the Initiative
  
  
• Proposing considerations and criteria for selecting countries to benefit from the Initiative and for broader support, drawing from WHO evidence of the estimated global NTD burden, suggested priorities and funding gaps to increase coverage of treatment in all countries

• Discussing the operational research agenda to be fulfilled to maximize the efficiency/benefit of the Initiative

• Identifying issues related to drug supplies and delivery of drugs to communities; determining the next steps for planning with the pharmaceutical industry and partners to ensure the availability and affordability of all drugs required

• Exploring means by which efforts undertaken by the Initiative are coordinated with other country level efforts, including national plans, providers of aid, and providers of assistance
  
  
• Proposing key indicators that should be measured as part of the Initiative

Additional Information on NTDs

• Currently, USAID is supporting integrated control of NTDs through its NTD Control Project [PDF, 448KB] and through the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC)
• Fact Sheet: USAID Fights Neglected Tropical Diseases - 02/22/08
• Fact Sheet: Fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases Around The World - 02/20/08