- Study demonstrates 'Best buy in public health'
LONDON, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A study published today
confirms that in the ten years since its initiation, the international
effort to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) has made unprecedented
strides towards ridding the world of one of its most debilitating diseases.
The study found that the LF elimination program has prevented 6.6 million
children from acquiring LF and stopped another 9.5 million people already
infected with the disease from progressing to more debilitating stages. All
of this is the result of the most rapid scale-up of a drug administration
program in public health history, delivering what the study calls the "best
buy in public health."
The paper, published this week in the open-access journal PLoS
Neglected Tropical Diseases, assessed the impact of the World Health
Organization sponsored Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis,
which has proven to be a model for international collaborations to end
global health scourges because of its remarkable achievements.
"These data illustrate that with the right partnerships, it is possible
to make an extraordinary impact on the health of hundreds of millions of
people at minimal cost," said Dr. Mwele Malecela, PhD, Director of the
Tanzania Lymphatic Filariasis Program and Chair of the Global Alliance to
Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. "We are on track to accomplish our goal of
elimination by 2020. When we do, this program will be a leading case study
for how to scale-up disease elimination programs globally."
Lymphatic filariasis, often called elephantiasis, is a parasitic
infection spread by mosquitoes that causes grotesque, painful swelling of
the limbs, breasts, and genitals. Considered a neglected tropical disease,
LF almost exclusively affects the world's poorest people. Approximately one
fifth of the world's population (1.3 billion people) is at risk of
contracting LF and approximately 120 million people in 83 countries are
currently infected.
The Global Program to Eliminate LF has already become the most rapidly
scaled-up drug administration program in public health history, and is on
track to becoming the largest such program in history. The study found that
since drug administrations began in 2000, the program has administered more
than 1.9 billion treatments to over 570 million people in 48 of the 83
countries with endemic LF.
The LF elimination treatment program utilizes a combination of two
anti-parasitic drugs, administered once yearly to everyone in an at-risk
area. When given for a minimum of five consecutive years, these drugs can
effectively stop transmission of LF. The drugs used to eliminate LF are the
same medications used to treat a number of intestinal worms and parasitic
skin diseases, which infect hundreds of millions of people in developing
countries and are major contributors to malnutrition, disability, delayed
development, and problems during pregnancy.
"The benefits of this program go far beyond simply preventing LF
infections," said Dr. Eric A. Ottesen, MD, Director of the Atlanta
Lymphatic Filariasis Support Center and lead author of the paper. "Because
of the LF program, at least 56.6 million children and 44.5 million women of
childbearing age have been treated for intestinal worms, most multiple
times. The drugs have also treated millions more in Africa for skin
diseases."
These data help the PLoS paper confirm what some public health
officials have long asserted: that the LF program is the 'best buy' in
public health, providing benefits that far outweigh its costs. The total
cost per patient over the first eight years of the program is estimated to
be less than US $0.50. This low cost is made possible in part by the
donation of albendazole and Mectizan(R) from the program's two key
pharmaceutical partners GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co., Inc.
The cost-efficiency combined with the program's achievements have made
the LF elimination effort a model for future large-scale international
public health partnerships and has prompted officials to call for the
development of a dedicated fund for the treatment and elimination of other
neglected tropical diseases.
"Future public-private partnerships will look to the global LF
elimination effort as a standout example of how groups can come together to
solve a major public health issue," said Dr. Lorenzo Savioli, MD, MSc,
Director of the Department Neglected Tropical Disease at the WHO. "We must
take the lessons we have learned from the LF model and apply them toward
the treatment and elimination of other neglected tropical diseases."
As the Global Program continues towards its goal of eliminating LF by
2020, the coming years will see additional rapid growth and expansion.
About the LF Program
The elimination program is based on a simple two drug, once-yearly
treatment of at-risk individuals using safe and effective medicines
(albendazole plus either Mectizan(R) or diethylcarbamazine [DEC]). The
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of five rounds to
reduce the level of disease below the threshold for sustaining
transmission; then mass drug administration (MDA) can be stopped. MDA
programs are already underway in 48 of the 83 LF-endemic countries and a
number of other countries are in the process of organizing such programs.
Since the program began, 66 million babies have been born into risk free
areas, a number that is expected to increase sharply as even more countries
begin LF elimination programs.
The drugs used for LF elimination are also highly effective in treating
intestinal worm infections. Consequently, LF treatments have a positive
impact on the educational prospects of children through enhanced mental and
physical development, and on reducing low birth weights and maternal
anaemia.
About the partnership
WHO's Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis began in 1997
when the World Health Assembly unanimously resolved to eliminate the
disease globally as a public health problem. In 1998, two pharmaceutical
companies -- GlaxoSmithKline (then SmithKline Beecham) and Merck & Co.,
Inc. -- partnered with WHO and pledged to donate two of the drugs necessary
for LF elimination (albendazole and Mectizan(R), respectively) to treat as
many people as necessary for as long as required, an unprecedented donation
to global public health. This partnership along with others from the public
and private sector evolved into the Global Alliance to Eliminate LF. This
Alliance is a free and unrestricted partnership of interested groups with
the LF endemic countries at the core with the objective of advocating for
LF elimination and working towards resource mobilization.
Media Availability:
Professor David Molyneux, Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance to
Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis; Dr. Mwele Malecela, Chair of the Global
Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis and Director of the Tanzania
National LF elimination program; Dr. Eric Ottesen, Director of the Atlanta
Lymphatic Filariasis Support Center, and Dr. Lorenzo Savioli, Director, WHO
Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases are available for media
interviews. B-roll is available for television producers; photo images and
a map of LF endemic countries and regions are available for all at
http://www.filariasis.org.
GlaxoSmithKline -- one of the world's leading research-based
pharmaceutical and healthcare companies -- is committed to improving the
quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live
longer. For further information please visit http://www.gsk.com.
SOURCE GlaxoSmithKline
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.gsk.com
http://www.filariasis.org
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/801350.html /
CONTACT:
UK Media enquiries, Alice Hunt,
+020-8047-5502, or US Media enquiries, Sarah Alspach,
+1-215-751-7709, both of GlaxoSmithKline
|
