- Study demonstrates 'Best buy in public health' LONDON, Oct. 7
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
