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UN / TROPICAL DISEASE LAUNCH
STORY: UN / TROPICAL DISEASE LAUNCH
TRT: 2.37
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 OCTOBER 2010, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RECENT 2010, GENEA SWITZERLAND
1. Zoom out, entrance of the WHO HQ
14 OCTOBER 2010, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Pan left, conference room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, WHO:
“The neglected tropical diseases form a group because of one shared feature: all occur almost exclusively among very poor people living in tropical parts of the world. All thrive in impoverished settings, where housing is often substandard, safe water and sanitation are scarce, environments are filthy, and insects and other vectors are abundant.”
3. Wide shot, conference room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, WHO:
“The report provides a catalogue of human misery and its geographical distribution, but it also sets out a solid body of evidence suggesting that victory is in sight for several of these diseases. In fact, if we keep doing the right things better, and on a larger scale, some of these diseases could be eliminated by 2015, in the next five years.”
5. Close up, report
FILE / WHO / DATE UNKNOWN, PLACE UNKNOWN
6. Med shot, child with Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease)
7. Close-up, skin affected by guinea-worm disease
8. Med shot, Health-care worker curing an infected wound on a child’s leg
FILE / WHO / DATE UNKNOWN, THAILAND
9. Wide shot, Ward with an infected child
FILE / WHO / DATE AND PLACE UNKNOWN
10. Various shots, Hospital ward in Africa with patients affected by human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
11.Wide shot, girl affected by sleeping sickness barely able to walk
FILE / WHO / DATE UNKNOWN, AFGHANISTAN
12. Various shots, Afghanistan Health centre where women and children receive injections for leishmaniasis
FILE / WHO / DATE AND PLACE UNKNOWN
13. Tilt up, leg of person affected with Onchocerciasis (river blindness) to his face
FILE / WHO / DATE UNKNOWN, CHINA
14. Various shots, Dr. assisting child with Schistosomiasis
FILE / WHO / DATE UNKNOWN, GHANA
15. Zoom out, man affected with Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) washing his infected leg
The United Nations (UN) health agency today (14 October) unveiled a report detailing ways to combat a group of chronic infectious diseases, found almost exclusively in very poor populations, and which are increasingly being overcome through generous donations of drugs by the international pharmaceutical industry.
The report, “Working to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases,” released by the World Health Organization (WHO), covers 17 neglected tropical diseases that thrive in poor environments, where housing is substandard, living surroundings are contaminated with filth, and disease-spreading insects and animals abound.
“The neglected tropical diseases form a group because of one shared feature - all occur almost exclusively among very poor people living in tropical parts of the world,” Margaret Chan said at the launch of the report at the WHO headquarters in Geneva
The consequences of untreated, long-term infection of some of the tropical diseases vary. They include blindness, disfiguring scars and ulcers, severe pain, limb deformities, impaired mental and physical development, and damage to internal organs.
Chan said the report provided a catalogue of human misery and its geographical distribution, but, she added that it also set out a solid body of evidence suggesting that “victory is in sight for several of these diseases.”
Worldwide, the diseases are endemic in 149 countries and territories, and impair the lives of at least one billion people.
In Afghanistan, where an outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis has been reported in Herat province, WHO and the health ministry used the launch of the report as an opportunity to raise awareness about and advocate for neglected diseases in the country, with special emphasis on the disease.
In the capital, Kabul, commonly considered the “world capital” of cutaneous leishmaniasis, the number of new reported cases dramatically rose from the estimated yearly figure of 17,000 to 65,000 in 2009, mainly among women and girls, according to WHO.
According to the report, activities undertaken to mitigate the impact of the neglected tropical diseases so far are producing unprecedented results. Treatment with preventive chemotherapy reached 670 million people in 2008 alone. Guinea worm disease will be the first disease eradicated by health education and behaviour change.
Reported cases of sleeping sickness have dropped to their lowest level in 50 years, and elephantiasis is targeted for elimination as a public health problem by 2020.
The report also recognizes the challenges that lie ahead and the opportunities to alleviate the suffering of people in disease-endemic countries. Delivery systems, for example, need to be strengthened.
The report also notes that better coordination is needed with veterinary public health as an essential element of controlling diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. For example, every year, tens of thousands of human deaths occur from rabies, usually contracted from dogs. An estimated 95 per cent of cases occur in Asia and Africa and up to 60 per cent of cases are in children under the age of 15.
Among the neglected tropical diseases are Buruli ulcer disease (Mycobacterium ulcerans infection), Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis), dengue, dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease), human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, leprosy (Hansen disease), lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), onchocerciasis (river blindness) and rabies.
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