LSTM’s Director, Professor Janet Hemingway, is part of a panel of experts that have been invited to comment on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) third annual report on neglected tropical diseases (NTD) which has been launched today in a joint ceremony in London and in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
Investing to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases, was launched at a meeting at the Royal Society and a number of professionals from around the world were invited to address the meeting with comments or presentations either in person on via live video link.
Professor Hemingway is among a number of people, including members of UK Parliament’s House of Commons and House of Lords, Department for International Development (DFID), The African Union, USAID, The World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who were asked to give remarks or presentations.
The report, which has a foreword by Dr Margaret Chan, the Director-General of the WHO, outlines the progress to date in the global resolve to prevent, control, eliminate and eradicate the 17 diseases classified as NTDs by the WHO. While highlighting the benefits for countries prepared to invest in the diseases the report provides a roadmap that includes investing towards the target of universal coverage against NTDs by 2030, as well as situation reports for some of the key interventions as well as looking at the diseases themselves.
Vector control was one of the main themes in the report, and Professor Hemingway, who was awarded a CBE by Her Majesty the Queen in 2012 for services to the Control of Tropical Disease Vectors, was honoured to be asked to provide remarks at the ceremony. She said: “I am delighted to have been invited to offer remarks on WHO’s third report into NTDs, an area in which LSTM has a proven track record and an expanding portfolio. NTDs impact on a billion people in 149 countries each year, many of them among the poorest people in the world and LSTM remains committed to advocating on their behalf to ensure that the very best research is translated into tangible health benefits where they are needed most.”
A copy of the report is available in the side menu.