Media relations / News

+ + Focus on health and climate for one day

Berlin/Dubai, 1 December 2023 - For the first time, the nexus between climate change and health will be explicitly addressed at a UN climate conference. A Health Day will take place at COP 28 on 3 December 2023. "We expect this day to have a major signalling effect because the changes caused by climate change and their negative effects on the health of people, animals and the environment will finally be given a forum. We also hope to attract more attention to the neglected tropical diseases that are directly linked to climate change and particularly affect those who are particularly vulnerable to climate change," says Prof Dr Achim Hörauf, DNTD spokesperson and Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at Bonn University Hospital.

 

The Health Day, which will take place in parallel with the COP 28 programme, will be supplemented by another conference, the "Reaching the Last Mile Forum 2023". "We need to adapt our strategies to safeguard the achievements of global health in a rapidly evolving climate landscape. This includes revising surveillance systems and intervention strategies, holistic research to understand the complex effects of climate change on disease transmission and also incorporating climate resilience," calls Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, Director of the Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Germany, which signed the Kigali Declaration against Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2022 and committed to joint action against tropical diseases, will also present its activities at the Reaching the Last Mile Forum 2023. The German government supports product development partnerships with the aim of ensuring access to new, effective and safe health products against neglected tropical diseases. In a first phase, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is supporting the "Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative" (DNDi) to improve access to new drugs against visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, sleeping sickness and river blindness in East Africa, India and South America. This will complement the long-term funding for research and development from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that the German government provides to DNDi, the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), the Sub-Saharan Research Networks (RHISSA) and others.

More information: https://unitingtocombatntds.org/en/neglected-tropical-diseases/resources/ntds-and-climate-change/

 

 

Berlin, 26 Jan 2023 - "To effectively tackle neglected tropical diseases, we need safer, simpler and more effective treatments that are affordable and available to people. We call on the German government to provide more support for efforts to develop and disseminate diagnoses, treatments and vaccinations to combat neglected tropical diseases and to elaborate and implement the commitments made (e.g. on the occasion of the Kigali Declaration) into an action plan for research and development," explains Prof. Dr Achim Hörauf, spokesperson of the German Network against Neglected Tropical Diseases, Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at Bonn University Hospital.

"More investment in programmes to combat neglected tropical diseases signals change to the world, leads to better education, health and employment opportunities. Since NTDs are primarily diseases of poverty, we are improving the living conditions of the world's poorest by providing access to health care," Hörauf continued.

Eliminating the neglected tropical diseases NTDs is possible in our lifetime. No one should suffer from preventable, treatable diseases, especially since appropriate drugs and vaccines are often donated and available. The treatment and prevention programmes based on them reach more than a billion people every year. They must be continued consistently and continuously.

COVID-19 demonstrated the importance of investing in strong public health systems that can both respond to endemic diseases like NTDs and make the world more resilient to pandemics. Smart investments upfront can save billions in the long run.

For more information on the World Day Against Neglected Tropical Diseases, please visit

https://worldntdday.org/get-involved/

Facts and figures

The German government was the first western country to sign the Kigali Declaration against Neglected Tropical Diseases. Other state signatories currently are:  Botswana, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Uganda and Vanuatu, as well as Belgium, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the USA. More information on other signatories https://unitingtocombatntds.org/kigali-declaration-commitment-tracker/

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Berlin, July 3, 2015 The German Network against Neglected Tropical Diseases (DNTDs) published an open letter commenting the "neglected tropical diseases" results of the G7 summit (june 2015) in Elmau, Germany. The members of the Network welcomed the fact that neglected tropical diseases are included in the joint declaration of the G7 summit. Now it is the time to fill this declaration with concrete ideas, strategies and programs, as well as plans for long-term budgeting.