Neglected diseases will soon have a new celebrity ambassador from India, as the endgame begins to eliminate seven among the world’s most neglected diseases by 2020.

The Indian celebrity who will help generate awareness on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) — a group of 17 parasitic and bacterial infections, will be revealed later this month, when the next leg of the global END7 campaign gets off the ground in India.   

The celebrity lending support to the cause is male, is all Richard  Hatzfeld of Sabin Vaccine Institute (SVI) divulges, as a string of celebrity names from Sachin Tendulkar and Leander Paes  to Amitabh Bachchan,  Shahrukh and Aamir Khan, are suggested by the correspondent.

SVI is behind the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases initiative and in 2012 it launched the END7 campaign targeting elimination of seven NTDS in seven years. SVI is a non-profit organisation of scientists and advocates, working towards reducing vaccine-preventable and neglected diseases.

Earlier this year, Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra starred in an END7 video campaign with other international artistes. Titled “How to shock a celebrity”, it captured their dismay on seeing people/children affected by these diseases.

Neglected diseases

NTDs are estimated to impact one in six people worldwide, including 500 million children. And India is estimated to be home to 35 per cent of the global population infected with NTDs. 

The seven most common NTDs, estimated to account for 90 per cent of the global burden include elephantiasis, river blindness, snail fever, trachoma and diseases caused by hook worms, whip worms and round worms. They cause blindness, massive selling in the limbs, malnutrition and anaemia.

In India, 700 million are estimated to be at risk of elephantiasis, and 200 million children at risk from worm-related infections.

When children are impacted, so are parents and the economics of the family, says Hatzfeld on the multiple effects of these diseases.

This grim message is communicated through social media — Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Global countdown

There are drug companies who have committed medicines to the project, says Hatzfeld, referring to the London declaration on NTDs, where multinational drug companies (including Novartis, Sanofi, Merck and Pfizer) and global institutions (World Bank, the Gates Foundation, USAID, UKaid, etc) have committed their support. Participating in the World Health Organisation’s road-map on NTDs, they target controlling or eliminating at least 10 of these diseases by 2020.

Medicines are supplied by global and local companies, but the challenge is in getting it to people who need it, and ensuring they take the medicines as required, he said. Compliance is a major challenge as people become irregular in taking their medicines, he added.

The campaign works with the Indian Health and Education Ministries, he said, adding that minimal training was required to spread awareness on the disease and educate people on the importance of medicine compliance. “You don’t need doctors or hospitals,” he explains, adding that existing infrastructure like schools, churches, mosques and community centres could be tapped for the purpose.

The campaign also hopes to rope in local corporates to get them involved with funding and lending support to local Government initiatives, he said.

jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in

 

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