International Development Aid for Neglected Tropical Diseases
26th January 2012
Pauline Latham OBE MP, a Vice Chairman of the All-Party Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases welcomed a commitment by the United Kingdom through the Department for International Development (DFID) to help eliminate some of the many Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Great Britain is taking a lead role as part of an international effort to help rid the world of a group of infectious diseases that currently affect around one billion people and kill more than half a million people worldwide every year.
DfID’s additional financial support will be very welcome news for the sufferers of elephantiasis, river blindness, bilharzia and guinea worm.
Mrs Latham said:
“This investment by the UK will help vulnerable populations in some of the poorest places. With the UK planning to meet its commitment to spent 0.7% of Gross National Income on development aid by 2013, it is vital that British taxpayers see that this money is changing lives.
“The extra money will help supply more than four treatments every second for people in the developing world for the next four years, protecting more than 140 million people in that time.”
Neglected Tropical Diseases, (NTDs )are most debilitating, distressing and painful diseases which keep individuals and families in extreme poverty. However, many NTDs are preventable and treatable.
The support given by DFID will help to give protection and care to millions, enabling sufferers to enjoy good health, and build their lives and those of their communities through work and education.