Dataset Information

Innovation in neglected tropical disease drug discovery and development.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are closely related to poverty and affect over a billion people in developing countries. The unmet treatment needs cause high mortality and disability thereby imposing a huge burden with severe social and economic consequences. Although coordinated by the World Health Organization, various philanthropic organizations, national governments and the pharmaceutical industry have been making efforts in improving the situation, the control of NTDs is still inadequate and extremely difficult today. The lack of safe, effective and affordable medicines is a key contributing factor. This paper reviews the recent advances and some of the challenges that we are facing in the fight against NTDs.

Main body

In recent years, a number of innovations have demonstrated propensity to promote drug discovery and development for NTDs. Implementation of multilateral collaborations leads to continued efforts and plays a crucial role in drug discovery. Proactive approaches and advanced technologies are urgently needed in drug innovation for NTDs. However, the control and elimination of NTDs remain a formidable task as it requires persistent international cooperation to make sustainable progresses for a long period of time. Some currently employed strategies were proposed and verified to be successful, which involve both mechanisms of 'Push' which aims at cutting the cost of research and development for industry and 'Pull' which aims at increasing market attractiveness. Coupled to this effort should be the exercise of shared responsibility globally to reduce risks, overcome obstacles and maximize benefits. Since NTDs are closely associated with poverty, it is absolutely essential that the stakeholders take concerted and long-term measures to meet multifaceted challenges by alleviating extreme poverty, strengthening social intervention, adapting climate changes, providing effective monitoring and ensuring timely delivery.

Conclusions

The ongoing endeavor at the global scale will ultimately benefit the patients, the countries they are living and, hopefully, the manufacturers who provide new preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic products.

SUBMITTER: Weng HB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6022351 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Innovation in neglected tropical disease drug discovery and development.

Weng Hong-Bo HB Chen Hai-Xia HX Wang Ming-Wei MW

Infectious diseases of poverty 20180618 1

<h4>Background</h4>Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are closely related to poverty and affect over a billion people in developing countries. The unmet treatment needs cause high mortality and disability thereby imposing a huge burden with severe social and economic consequences. Although coordinated by the World Health Organization, various philanthropic organizations, national governments and the pharmaceutical industry have been making efforts in improving the situation, the control of NTDs ...[more]

PMID: 29950174

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundMass drug administration (MDA) programmes for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) depend on voluntary community drug distributors (CDDs) to deliver drugs, and these volunteer schemes need regular training and supervision. NTD policy now includes integration of multiple disease programmes, but we are unsure if there is clarity in what is currently expected of CDDs and how they are managed. We therefore analysed World Health Organization (WHO) policy, strategy and implementation guidance, and select national NTD programme implementation plans.MethodsIncluded are a) WHO global and WHO-Regional Office for Africa guidelines, strategies, operational manuals and meeting reports published between January 2007 to February 2018 that included policy and plans for CDDs; and b) national NTD programme master plans for Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria. For both review components, we examined the CDD responsibilities through a framework developed iteratively against the documents and prepared a narrative synthesis.ResultsTwenty WHO policy documents met the inclusion criteria. In the twelve global and eight regional documents, the CDD role was not explicitly or comprehensively defined. Three documents mentioned CDDs will distribute drugs; some mentioned health promotion, data handling and engagement in clinical care. Four WHO documents noted a need for CDD training or management, eight detailed some aspect of this, and one regional document provided a comprehensive overview. In the national plans, additional responsibilities included case management in two countries and transmission control in two countries. Every plan included training and supervision, but this was not always explicit, and details of the purpose and frequency varied. In all national plans, CDD motivation was identified as a challenge but not comprehensively addressed, although one document mentioned provision of bicycles.ConclusionsWHO and national policies and plans assume CDDs will implement NTD programmes. However, there is almost no clear delineation of responsibilities, nor is there up-to-date practical guidance to guide managers. This ambiguity, in relation to the lack of explicit policies or programmatic guidance, probably impairs the effectiveness of NTD programmes.

Dataset Information

Innovation in neglected tropical disease drug discovery and development.

Background

Main body

Conclusions

Publications

Innovation in neglected tropical disease drug discovery and development.

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