Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of chronic disabling infections affecting more than 1 billion people worldwide, mainly in Africa and mostly those living in remote rural areas, urban slums or conflict zones. Beyond their negative impact on health, NTDs contribute to an ongoing cycle of poverty and stigma that leaves people unable to work, go to school or participate in family and community life.
Whilst “the big three” infections - AIDS, TB and malaria - have caught the world's attention, these other disabling and sometimes fatal infectious diseases in Africa have, until very recently, been receiving relatively little attention from donors, policymakers, and public health officials. Yet NTD control represents a largely untapped development opportunity to alleviate poverty in the world’s poorest populations, and therefore has a direct impact on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Five European Foundations – Cariplo, Gulbenkian, Merieux, Nuffield and Volkswagen – have developed an initiative that will strengthen African research capacity in neglected tropical diseases and related public health research. The Fellowship Programme "Neglected Communicable Tropical Diseases and Related Public Health Research" aims to build up a cadre of African researchers in the field, strengthening African research institutions in the process.
The Fellowship Programme aims to build up a cadre of African researchers in the field, strengthening African research institutions in the process. It has been designed so that research topics are based on African needs and priorities, rather than Northern research interests. As well as funding pure scientific research, for example on how effective various drugs are, the programme wants to strengthen public health research, looking at drug delivery systems etc.
The programme offers fellowships for both junior researchers who have recently completed their doctorates awards and experienced researchers ready to take on larger research programmes.
Fellows are funded for up to three years to carry out research in an African institution. The awards include funding for Fellows to establish mentoring links with leading scientists, both African and non-African. It is the researchers themselves that choose who is best to provide advice and guidance for their research – so keeping the research African-led. The programme also offers training in key skills such as proposal writing and making presentations.
Note: The current call for proposals has now closed.
Neglected Communicable (Tropical) Diseases are one of the key areas of concern for our society, as it was clearly formulated by WHO in 2006 (“Neglected Tropical Diseases – Hidden successes, Emerging opportunities”). Neglected tropical diseases affect an estimated one billion people, primarily poor populations living in tropical and subtropical climates. Children are most vulnerable to infections of most neglected tropical diseases. 100 % of low-income countries are affected by at least five neglected tropical diseases simultaneously, and more than 70 % of countries and territories that report the presence of neglected tropical disease are low-income and lower middle-income economies.
WHO is currently focusing on 14 neglected tropical diseases:
Buruli ulcer – Leishmaniasis – Chagas disease – Leprosy – Cholera/Epidemic diarrhoeal diseases – Lymphatic filariasis – Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever – Onchocerciasis – Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) – Schistosomiasis – Endemic Treponematoses (yaws, pinta, endemic syphilis…) – Soil-transmitted helminthiasis – Trachoma – Human African trypanosomiasis
