Fresh Focus on Neglected Diseases

The World Health Assembly made bold moves against neglected tropical diseases this week, replacing a 2012 blueprint that is not on track to reach its targets, WHO reports.
 
What’s different about the new plan, which aims to tackle 20 neglected tropical diseases and disease groups? It shifts the emphasis from programs targeting specific illnesses to a longer-term approach rooted in boosting primary health care services—and requires governments and communities to take greater ownership, according to UN News.
 
The plan aims, by 2030, to slash by 90% the number of people requiring treatment for NTDs.
 
Also on the agenda:  

• In WHO’s first-ever resolution on meningitis, a budget-focused committee endorsed a plan to defeat the disease by 2030. It now kills 300,000+ people a year.

• Members also states recommended adopting a resolution focused on scaling up treatment of epilepsy and other neurological disorders.