Sabin Vaccine Institute said its President Dr. Peter Hotez, writing in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, “calls on the G8, Gulf Cooperation Council nations, and neglected tropical disease (NTDs) endemic countries, such as Nigeria and Indonesia, to fund global NTD control efforts.” Dr. Hotez notes that “despite a growing awareness of NTDs as both a global health and security threat, the burden of funding has been primarily shouldered by three nations—the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan…” The Italian government hosted a high profile NTD workshop in 2009 but has “so far failed to translate the conclusions of this meeting into meaningful action,” while the German government, which developed praziquantel, a drug used to treat schistosomiasis, has failed to find a mechanism to donate the drug to African nations where it is desperately needed. The richest non-G8 European countries have also failed to support global NTD control notes the editorial.  “If together the BRIC countries and Nigeria and Indonesia would commit to controlling their own NTDs, it would likely double the impact of the current US commitment,” Dr. Hotez concludes.

Read “Neglected Tropical Disease Control in the “Post-American World.”