Honourable Permanent Secretaries of participating countries,
Dear health development partners,
Distinguished participants and guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to have this opportunity to address the opening session of the Regional Consultative Meeting on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), convened by Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, the WHO Regional Director for Africa. He would dearly have liked to personally open this important meeting, but because of other important commitments, he has asked me to represent him for this session. He will be back to join us later during this consultation.
Meanwhile, I bring you Dr Sambo’s warm greetings and best wishes for a productive and successful meeting. I also want to thank all of you, Permanent Secretaries and Directors of Medical Services from the Ministries of Health, Other delegates from countries, representatives of Donors and Pharmaceutical firms, Non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs) and experts for finding time to attend this important meeting.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) is committed to strengthening regional efforts and creating an enabling environment for accelerating the implementation of NTDs programmes within the Region. This meeting brings together various stakeholders that focus on preventive chemotherapy (PCT) for some NTDs, such as lymphatic filariasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, schistosomiasis and onchocerciasis. In addition, we have present those stakeholders that deal with innovative and intensified disease management (IDM) of targeted NTDs, including Guinea worm disease, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), leishmaniasis, leprosy and Buruli Ulcer.
We are meeting here following the meeting of NTD stakeholders held in Accra in June 2012. As such, I would expect that discussions in the next three days will build on the agreements reached in Accra and provide new insights on how we all can work together and contribute to harmonizing regional efforts to speed up the elimination and eradication of targeted NTDs in the African Region.
As you are aware, NTDs affect mainly poor people living in rural communities and until recently, received little attention, in spite of the fact that for many of these diseases, simple, safe and low-cost interventions are available and can be delivered to affected people and communities. More than one billion people worldwide are affected by NTDs and the WHO African region is home to about half of the global burden of NTDs.
NTDs disfigure, disable, and account for an estimated half a billion annual deaths globally. Mothers and children, who are infected with soil transmitted helminthiasis, develop anaemia and other complications as the disease progresses. Some children drop out of school in order to take care of their parents who are disabled by NTDs such as trachoma, onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. This often results in little or no education for these children. This perpetuates the cycle of poverty for families. Leprosy remains associated with images of mutilation, rejection and exclusion from society. These diseases have been neglected for far too long and it is heartening to note that countries in our region and the international community are now uniting to tackle them – and to change the lives of millions of people suffering or affected by NTDs.
The new momentum that now exists towards the control and elimination of these diseases reached a high-point in January 2012, with the release of the WHO Global Roadmap for Implementation of NTDs and the launch of the London Declaration on NTDs. It is noteworthy that in January this year, the first anniversary of these historic events was celebrated with the launch of the second WHO Report on NTDs, entitled “Sustaining the Drive to overcome the global impact of NTDs” and the first report on the London Declaration on NTDs, “From Promises to Progress”, which indicated some progress in tackling NTDs, especially in the African region. In June 2012, the Accra Call to Action on NTDs, which requested all stakeholders to accelerate efforts to control and eliminate targeted NTDs in the African region, was articulated by endemic countries, pharmaceutical companies, donors and other stakeholders. In addition, a draft resolution on NTDs proposed by the 132nd session of the WHO Executive Board will be submitted for adoption to the upcoming 66th World Health Assembly session in May 2013.
Progress is also being made in delivering interventions to control NTDs and in strengthening the capacity of national NTD programmes in the WHO African region. For examples, mass drug administrations for various diseases amenable to preventive chemotherapy (PCT) such as lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil transmitted helminthiasis and trachoma, reached about 203 million people at-risk in 2011. There are indications that the transmission of onchocerciasis has been interrupted in several foci. The annual numbers of new cases of leprosy and human African trypanosomiasis have continued to decrease. It is also noteworthy that three countries (Burkina Faso, Eritrea and Togo) were recently certified free of local transmission of Guinea worm disease. This is evidence that countries in the region can eliminate NTDs.
Distinguished participants and guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
The current trajectory of progress is, however, insufficient to meet the set targets and goals. In addition, the coordination and integration of key interventions still remains a major concern for countries in the region. Cross-border issues also need to be addressed. In order to accelerate progress, we need well-defined milestones and targets toward the 2020 NTD control and elimination goals. Thus, I urge you to be ambitious and yet realistic with regard to the regional milestones that will be discussed at this meeting.
The APOC stakeholders, during the last Joint Action Forum (JAF) in Bujumbura, conveyed the message that there is need for better integration and more effective coordination of interventions for onchocerciasis and NTDs amenable to preventive chemotherapy (PCT). Indeed, aligned interventions and better coordination can yield better value for investment. APOC and the AFRO Neglected Tropical Disease (AFRO/NTD) have developed and will be implementing additional mechanisms to coordinate their support to countries.
We are aware that Member States are making serious efforts to integrate their NTD programmes and interventions, for more efficient and effective action, and acceleration of progress. Their efforts would be helped by improved coordination of NTD stakeholders in countries. On this issue, I would like to urge the Permanent Secretaries and high level government officials as well as other partners at this meeting to deliberate on innovative and effective coordination mechanisms that can improve synergies, reduce transaction costs for all and assure better results and impact.
WHO would like to acknowledge the increase in funding for national NTD programmes by our Member States in recent years. For example, Ghana provided US$ 1 million for its national NTD programme last year and the Nigerian government has committed to providing US$ 5 million to APOC. I am pleased to note that thirty-six countries have developed their national NTD multi-year plans (also called NTD Master Plans). I would therefore like to call on the Ministry of Health leadership to ensure that all stakeholders in countries have a stake in these plans – contribute to their development/updating and evaluation, and make use of them as the basis for planning and implementing NTD programme interventions in the countries. In addition, the use of these plans as tools for mobilizing in-country resources for NTD programmes needs to be strengthened. They need to be effectively linked to national health development plans and financing mechanisms. NTDs must take their proper and visible place within national health priorities and related decision-making mechanisms; we as NTD and health development stakeholders need to work towards that.
Distinguished participants and guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
How can available and new resource and funding channels be aligned and harmonized around country programme goals and priorities? How can we ensure better accountability and transparency in the use of funds available for NTD programmes in countries, and delivery on commitments? These are some important challenges that will need to be addressed during this meeting.
I cannot end this speech without recognizing and acknowledging the unprecedented contributions and commitments of the pharmaceutical industry, national governments, experts and the research community, donors and NGDOs, towards the reduction of the burden of NTDs within the African region. With such massive support and commitment from stakeholders we are set towards making NTDs history in the African region. I believe that this meeting will be a strong platform to help us make progress – together - in this direction.
I thank you for your attention.