By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    Egypt's Emigration Minister meets with founding board of Egyptians Abroad for Investment Company
    Egypt’s Emigration Minister meets with founding board of Egyptians Abroad for Investment Company
    September 21, 2023
    ABB allocates €13bn for green transformation by 2030
    ABB allocates €13bn for green transformation by 2030
    September 21, 2023
    DMZ Cairo Demo Day 2023 showcases Egypt's top tech startups
    DMZ Cairo Demo Day 2023 showcases Egypt’s top tech startups
    September 21, 2023
    Valu partners with Le Marche, Electrotech to offer payment solutions for furniture, electronics Expo
    Valu partners with Le Marche, Electrotech to offer payment solutions for furniture, electronics Expo
    September 21, 2023
    Egypt, KOICA sign $8m agreement to enhance educational capacity of Beni-Suef Technological University
    Egypt, KOICA sign $8m agreement to enhance educational capacity of Beni-Suef Technological University
    September 21, 2023
  • Politics
    PoliticsShow More
    Egyptian Health Minister highlights country's interest in local drug manufacturing
    Egyptian Health Minister highlights country’s interest in local drug manufacturing
    September 21, 2023
    Egypt leads meeting to urge global support for Sudan’s humanitarian crisis
    Egypt leads meeting to urge global support for Sudan’s humanitarian crisis
    September 20, 2023
    Egypt and EU co-chair GCTF meeting, reaffirm commitment to fighting terrorism
    Egypt and EU co-chair GCTF meeting, reaffirm commitment to fighting terrorism
    September 20, 2023
    Children dying in Sudan amid healthcare system collapse
    Children dying in Sudan amid healthcare system collapse
    September 20, 2023
    Egypt to announce presidential election timetable on Monday
    Egypt to announce presidential election timetable on Monday
    September 20, 2023
  • Interviews
    InterviewsShow More
    Microsoft Egypt aims to provide advanced AI models, build solid AI ecosystem: Mirna Arif
    Microsoft Egypt aims to provide advanced AI models, build solid AI ecosystem: Mirna Arif
    September 18, 2023
    I love privacy, and I am not concerned about competition: Yasmine Sabry
    I love privacy, and I am not concerned about competition: Yasmine Sabry
    September 14, 2023
    Sustainability, digital transformation at the heart of our strategy: Heidelberg Materials Egypt
    Sustainability, digital transformation at the heart of our strategy: Heidelberg Materials Egypt
    September 12, 2023
    India welcomes Egypt's BRICS membership: Boosting trade, investment, and access to strategic commodities
    India welcomes Egypt’s BRICS membership: Boosting trade, investment, and access to strategic commodities
    September 11, 2023
    The box office is not a measure of success: Basma Hassan
    The box office is not a measure of success: Basma
    September 6, 2023
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Reading: ‘More progress needed’ to eradicate tropical diseases
Share
Notification
Latest News
Egypt's Emigration Minister meets with founding board of Egyptians Abroad for Investment Company
Egypt’s Emigration Minister meets with founding board of Egyptians Abroad for Investment Company
Business
ABB allocates €13bn for green transformation by 2030
ABB allocates €13bn for green transformation by 2030
Business
DMZ Cairo Demo Day 2023 showcases Egypt's top tech startups
DMZ Cairo Demo Day 2023 showcases Egypt’s top tech startups
Business
Valu partners with Le Marche, Electrotech to offer payment solutions for furniture, electronics Expo
Valu partners with Le Marche, Electrotech to offer payment solutions for furniture, electronics Expo
Business
Egypt, KOICA sign $8m agreement to enhance educational capacity of Beni-Suef Technological University
Egypt, KOICA sign $8m agreement to enhance educational capacity of Beni-Suef Technological University
Business
Aa
Aa
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • Advertise
© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.
Dailynewsegypt > Blog > Health > ‘More progress needed’ to eradicate tropical diseases
Health

‘More progress needed’ to eradicate tropical diseases

Deutsche Welle
Last updated: 2016/05/04 at 8:09 PM
By Deutsche Welle 8 Min Read
Share
SHARE

Millions struggle with tropical diseases causing blindness and other disabilities. DW talks to expert Martin Kollmann about getting vital drugs to the communities that need them the most – amid war, famine and unrest.
The World Health Organization, together with a group of health institutions, has published its annual scorecard on the progress of the 2012 London Declaration on neglected tropical diseases (NDTs). Around the world, over a billion of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people suffer from a range of NDTs. The global effort has focused on treating and eradicating 10 of them, including Chagas’ diesease, trachoma, visceral leishmaniasis, leprosy and lymphatic filariasis.

DW: Professor Martin Kollmann, since 2012 there have been new efforts globally to fight, eradicate and also treat these diseases. Have much progress have we actually seen?

Martin Kollmann: I think we’ve seen fantastic progress since the London Declaration in 2012, when a very broad partnership of various stakeholders came together and made concrete pledges. The pharmaceutical sector pledged to donate drugs so that programs can become as cost effective as possible. We have the NGDOs, governments and funders coming together to make this happen and scale up efforts. And now we have a mechanism to actually track progress in a transparent way and hold each of the stakeholder groups accountable.

Could you give us some examples of where there’s been progress?

Particularly in the area of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis, preventative chemotherapy and the distribution of donated drugs that are free have been fantastic. In Latin America, river blindness for example is on its way out. There are just six indigenous communities in the Amazon border area between Brazil and Venezuela that still have this disease. And we have very good treatment coverage now in Africa. Keep in mind that we’ve impacted countries like the South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Congo. These countries have unrest, war, famine, huge populations, migration, and year after year we’ve been able to get those donated drugs to affected communities with the help of NGOs like the Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and others. Now we are in a position to actually have a paradigm shift moving from control of some diseases to elimination.

You’ve worked in Africa for many years – in Ethiopia, Kenya and many other countries. Can you give an example of what happens in a community where many people are affected by these diseases?

In river blindness you may have seen the image of a young child leading a blind father, mother, grandfather or grandmother on a stick. This child cannot go to school. As we prevent blindness in their parents and grandparents’ generation, we actually give this child back a future. And if you go to these villages, in most parts of Africa you don’t see new people going blind from river blindness anymore, and that is a fantastic success. But because the adult worm that produces the disease-causing baby worms live for many many years, we need to deliver these drugs year after year. Despite war, famine and all the other catastrophes, the drugs need to be delivered to the entire community. And that has been done through this public-private partnership of health institutions in the most astonishingly successful way. That is why now these children have a chance to go to school – they have a future.

We’ve also seen whole villages that left their arable land around rivers where the black fly breeds – because they were “cursed” with blindness – can now go back and farm there again. So that’s a typical example of the immense socio-economic impact that tackling NTDs can have.

Where do you see the biggest challenges?

Oh, there are huge challenges. We’ve made fantastic progress, but by far not enough. In 2015, we should have reached 75 percent coverage in treatment of all the population globally to achieve our goals. But we need better data, we have to know better where the disease is in the virus countries in Africa, then we need to identify the barriers – why didn’t we achieve everything we wanted to achieve, despite all this fantastic progress in the past year? And how do we overcome these barriers to become even more effective than we already are? These are not so much neglected diseases, but diseases affecting neglected people, the poorest of the poor living in areas with weak health systems. In many cases there is a dire need for more tools and more research. And there has been little investment in the past because these people don’t have any economic power. They don’t have a voice.

Do you think in your lifetime you will see a complete elimination of these neglected tropical diseases?

I’m very optimistic. We are aiming to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem by the year 2020, and we are on track to do this. But we have to scale up our efforts. We need to do more, we need more funding, we need more research. Latin America shows us that it is achievable, as well as the progress that we’ve seen in Africa. But initiatives can only succeed if you work in a really open, transparent and close partnership with national programs and communities. So rebels may move in, and the drugs that are not distributed might be hidden in a hole in the backyard until the rebels have moved away. Then they’ll be dug out and the distribution continues. We need to use whatever means available to get drugs out, year after year, to the people who need them most. This is not about charity. It is about empowering people and boosting local capacity.

Professor Martin Kollmann is part of the global network against NTDs and senior advisor on neglected diseases for CBM, the Christian Blind Mission in Nairobi, Kenya. Kollmann is a medical doctor and eye diseases specialist. He also teaches at the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Tropical and Infectious dieseases and serves as Chair of the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC) and on the board of the German Network against NTDs.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

You Might Also Like

WHO warns of contaminated Indian cold-out syrup in MENA region

More adults than ever have been seeking ADHD medications – an ADHD expert explains what could be driving the trend

Matcha tea: what the current evidence says about its health benefits

MoH holds celebration themed ‘Egypt’s success journey towards expanding women’s access to health’

Leaders Uncover The Future Of Healthcare At Forbes Middle East’s Healthcare Summit 2022

TAGGED: diseases
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
Previous Article Opinion: Bayern Munich fans happy with Pep Guardiola despite Champions League shortcomings
Next Article 2016 a bright year for Egypt’s gymnasts
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ad image
Ad image

Stay Connected

Facebook Like
Twitter Follow
Instagram Follow
Youtube Subscribe

Latest News

Egypt's Emigration Minister meets with founding board of Egyptians Abroad for Investment Company
Egypt’s Emigration Minister meets with founding board of Egyptians Abroad for Investment Company
Business
ABB allocates €13bn for green transformation by 2030
ABB allocates €13bn for green transformation by 2030
Business
DMZ Cairo Demo Day 2023 showcases Egypt's top tech startups
DMZ Cairo Demo Day 2023 showcases Egypt’s top tech startups
Business
Valu partners with Le Marche, Electrotech to offer payment solutions for furniture, electronics Expo
Valu partners with Le Marche, Electrotech to offer payment solutions for furniture, electronics Expo
Business
//
Egypt’s only independent daily newspaper in English. Discuss the country’s latest with the paper’s reporters, editors, and other readers.

Quick Link

  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.

Join Us!

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc..

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?