Call for Action: Help the WHO to identify the R&D priorities for neglected tropical diseases
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse set of diseases that affect more than 1.6 billion people worldwide. They tend to affect people in the poorest communities. With relatively limited tools, much is already being achieved to reduce their impact. More research and development (R&D) work against these long-overlooked diseases could lead to advances that significantly reduce how frequently they occur, and improve the quality of life of people who would otherwise suffer from NTDs.
A ranked list of R&D priorities for NTDs would help health ministries, their partner organizations, researchers and research funders to direct available time and money to the topics of greatest urgency.
The R&D Blueprint for NTDs will have global scope across all diseases listed by the World Health Organization as NTDs.
All types of basic, clinical, social science and epidemiological research, including health product development and operational and implementation research, are eligible for inclusion in the Blueprint. The Blueprint will be developed through a broad-based consensus-building process involving NTD-endemic countries, people affected by NTDs, researchers, healthcare workers, NTD programme personnel and individuals who staff funding organizations. It will be published by the World Health Organization so that all stakeholders can refer to it and use it for decision-making. After it is published in 2025, regular re-assessment of the identified R&D priorities and their progress will be undertaken.
Help is seeked of people who have insight into one or more of the NTDs listed above. That insight may be drawn from having been affected by an NTD; by managing patients affected by NTDs; through undertaking research; by guiding or delivering control, elimination or eradication programmes; or by considering applications for funding of work on NTDs.
For more information, or to volunteer as a contributor, please access the link on this page.