The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a $100 million award to the nonprofit research organization RTI International to reduce the impact of neglected tropical diseases in developing nations.The project, which will treat more than 40 million people for five years, represents one of the first large-scale efforts to integrate existing disease-specific treatment programs to care for millions of the world's poorest people. The project will build on the success of those programs, bringing them to national scale and enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency by integrating treatment, monitoring and evaluation programs.
"This significant investment will improve the lives of millions of people afflicted with disabling conditions through effective, low-cost, mass drug administration and associated education programs," said Richard Greene, director of the Office of Health, Infectious Disease and Nutrition at USAID.
The USAID-funded program will focus on controlling seven of the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases; trachoma (blinding eye infection), hookworm, ascaris, trichuris (three soil-transmitted worms), onchocerciasis (river blindness), schistosomiasis (snail fever) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis).
The project will target countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America that have a high prevalence of these diseases and have recognized them as a national health priority.
Source: U.S. Agency for International Development
