Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has formal agreements with 10 pharmaceutical companies for donations of 18 medicines employed in the treatment of 11 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Additional financial support is provided to WHO towards the control, elimination and eradication of NTDs. This has enabled the progressive expansion of NTD programmes globally, by improving access to quality-assured and safe medicines for billions of people affected by NTDs.
Key areas of support or collaboration between WHO and pharmaceutical partners include:
- access to treatment – donation or tiered pricing of medicines for use in developing countries;
- financial contributions to support expansion of disease surveillance, control and elimination interventions, coordination, monitoring and evaluation;
- technical collaboration on therapeutics, including pharmacovigilance, management of severe adverse events, drug efficacy monitoring and capacity-building; and
- research and development of pharmaceutical products – to address the unmet therapeutic needs
In light of the above considerations, WHO is convening the first Joint WHO-NTD Pharma Partners meeting. The event will take place at WHO headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, on 20–21 April 2023.
The major objectives of the meeting are:
- To update on strategic priorities for control, elimination and eradication of NTDs, planned activities and major events;
- To review progress/achievements and challenges facing NTDs programmes with implementation of interventions and planned activities;
- To identify and address critical issues in supply management of NTD medicines and health product, including forecasting, distribution and tax/levies challenges;
- To share experiences and lessons learnt and receive latest updates from the pharma donation and global health programmes, and ensure the continuity of commitments, collaboration and partnership.