FOUNDATION EUROPE
Combatting Neglected Tropical Diseases in Guyana 2015 - 2016
Sabin Foundation Europe Sabin Foundation Europe (UK Registered Charity Number 1145342) is a UK charity founded in 2011 to support vaccine research and development, advocacy efforts and treatment programmes for vaccine-preventable and neglected tropical diseases. As a partner of the U.S.based Sabin Vaccine Institute, Sabin Foundation Europe leads the efforts in the UK and across Europe to promote proven, cost-effective solutions to the world’s most pervasive, and least understood, health issues.
About Neglected Tropical Diseases NTDs afflict almost 1.4 billion people globally - the world’s poorest and most marginalized people, including over 500 million children. These diseases directly affect children’s nutrition status, school attendance, and cognitive and physical development; the health of pregnant women and their newborns; and increase the likelihood of contracting HIV. Beyond health, NTDs undercut economic growth, educational achievement and gender equality. These
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in
Guyana
A 2015 report from the World Health Organization and the Uniting to Combat 2015 London Declaration scorecard show that treating NTDs is extremely cost-effective and can be easily integrated with other develop-
Located in the northeast of South America, Guyana is a Commonwealth country bordered by Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela spanning 215,000 square kilometres with a population of approximately 735,000. The principal NTDs affecting Guyana’s population are lymphatic filariasis (LF) and soil-transmitted helminths (STH, or intestinal parasites). Both are amenable to control by mass distribution of essential medicines to all those living in at risk areas - an approach known as mass drug administration, or MDA - combined with improvements to water and sanitation conditions.
VENEZUELA
GUYANA
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diseases can prevent children from attending school and adults from working, and they disproportionally affect women and girls. However, NTDs receive only a small portion of global health funding, domestically and internationally.
Both NTDs are endemic in rural areas throughout the country, but the prevalence of LF is even greater in Guyana’s capital city of Georgetown, where infection rates range from 20 to 50%. Georgetown does not have an advanced drainage system, making it prone to severe flooding during the
ment initiatives. Through public-private partnerships, pharmaceutical companies donate nearly all of the drugs necessary to fight the seven most common NTDs: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, three soil transmitted helminths and trachoma. For approximately £0.50 per person per year, we can treat and prevent these diseases and in turn improve nutrition, education, maternal and child health, and HIV outcomes, and set the stage for sustainable, inclusive economic growth.
rainy season, which causes populations of the LF-transmitting mosquito to rise. Guyana has made progress in the fight against NTDs, although much work remains. To address the burden of LF, the Ministry of Health, with technical support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), has developed a National Plan of Action that links interventions against LF with those to combat intestinal parasites. Guyana is also integrating NTD treatment with environmental improvements through a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that is rebuilding the sewerage and surface drainage system and providing treatment for 331,226 people at risk for LF. Integrating NTD treatment with sanitation initiatives leads to improved health outcomes for those treated and monitoring disease prevalence helps measure the impact of the sanitation program and supports long-term sustainability.
Sabin City Group The Sabin City Group is working with Sabin Foundation Europe to build a corporate and philanthropic stakeholder movement that raises the awareness, political will and funding necessary to control and eliminate the seven most common NTDs by 2020. The Sabin City Group is working to make history in Guyana by supporting the delivery of treatments for an estimated 200,000 children at risk of soil transmitted helminths (intestinal worms) and almost 715,000 people at risk of lymphatic filariasis (LF).
What is lymphatic filariasis (LF)?
What are soiltransmitted helminths (STH)?
What is the treatment strategy?
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LF, also known as elephantiasis and in Guyana as “big foot”, is an extremely painful, debilitating and disfiguring disease transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. In severe cases, LF can cause extreme swelling of the extremities and genitals.
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Those with severe symptoms are often unable to work because of physical disability. Many suffer from social stigma and marginalisation due to their disfigurement.
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STH cause anaemia, vitamin A deficiency, stunted growth, malnutrition, and impaired physical and cognitive development. They reduce school attendance among children and impair their ability to pay attention in the classroom.
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The WHO recommends regular deworming of pre-school and schoolaged children to protect them from STH infections, allowing them to remain healthy and in school.
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While the early stages of LF infection can be prevented and treated with widely available and affordable drugs, once swelling develops, it can only be contained – not reversed. Mass drug administration (MDA) prevents LF from progressing to the symptomatic stage and simultane-
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ously reduces the impact of STH on child health. By coupling MDA with access to clean water, proper sanitation and hygiene, intestinal worm infections can be drastically reduced, and with repeated treatment, LF transmission can be eliminated altogether.
The Path Forward Guyana has demonstrated the commitment and ability to combat NTDs through its efforts to eliminate LF in coordination with PAHO and the IDB, but additional support is needed. The IDB Georgetown Sanitation Improvement Program has included implementation of mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns for the treatment of LF and intestinal parasites. MDA campaigns have begun in some at-risk areas; however, further rounds of treatment and investment are needed in order to achieve elimination of LF by 2020. With additional funding, Guyana’s current NTD efforts can be maintained and expanded to increase treatment coverage nationwide. Those at risk for NTDs can live free of these diseases of poverty and their devastating effects. Supporting Guyana’s NTD initiative is a lowcost, efficient way to reduce malnutrition, prevent disability and social stigma, and increase productivity. Together, we can help eliminate NTDs from Guyana and end the neglect.
What will your donation to Guyana do? Sabin City Group and partners are working to secure additional philanthropic and corporate investments to fill a crucial funding gap for Guyana’s NTD program. Investment of £100-200,000 from the campaign will support activities such as: • the training of volunteers to distribute treatment of specialized drugs to fight LF and intestinal parasites • social mobilisation and public awareness about prevention and treatment to inform target populations about LF and STH, the MDA campaign, and upgrades to the sewerage system • mapping of Guyana’s NTD burden to maximize the efficiency of MDA For further information, please visit sabinfoundation.org.uk or contact Aparna Barua, SFE Senior Advocacy Officer, at aparna.barua@sabinfoundation.org.uk or +44 (0) 20 7239 8249.