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Ghana: Making History in the Fight Against Elephantiasis
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Accra Mail (Accra)
OPINION
1 April 2008
Posted to the web 1 April 2008
Dr. Jean-Pierre Garnier
One of my proudest moments is the day in 2005 when I visited our factory in Cape Town, South Africa, that produces drugs against a disease many people have never heard of: lymphatic filariasis. Better known as LF or elephantiasis, lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito-borne illness that affects 120 million of the world's poorest people, causing grotesque inflammation of the legs, arms, breasts and genitals.
Far from a simple factory, this building represents the front line in one of the biggest and boldest public health initiatives in human history. Over the past decade, the global effort to eliminate LF has become the fastest growing public health program in history. I am proud that the company I lead, GlaxoSmithKline, has donated 750 million pills in this effort, and has been a leader in the fight to completely eliminate this devastating disease.
It is difficult to overestimate LF's devastating toll. LF traps its victims in a vicious cycle of poverty and disease. Most children contract LF before the age of 5. Symptoms usually develop in adolescence, and worsen with age. By adulthood, many of those infected are unable to work for weeks at a time when debilitating feverish attacks make it difficult to leave the house.
Worldwide, LF is a major cause of permanent physical disability. The costs are borne not only by individuals, but by entire economies. Studies estimate that LF causes 1 billion US dollars in lost productivity in both Africa and India each year.
For all of this sad news, the battle against LF may soon have a happy ending. Only a few decades ago, scientists discovered that a simple combination of two medications, given once a year for five years in a row, can halt transmission of LF. Today, a global partnership is underway to make these medicines available all 1.2 billion people at risk, in an effort to ensure that no human being will ever again be infected with LF.
This week, representatives of international health agencies are gathering in Arusha, Tanzania to coordinate the global battle against LF. As these leaders meet, the world is nearly halfway toward the goal of eliminating this disease.
Since its founding in 2000, the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis has given out more than one billion free treatments around the world to work toward the goal of eliminating LF by 2020. The Global Alliance is a groundbreaking partnership between the endemic countries, the World Health Organization and other UN agencies, leading pharmaceutical companies, non-governmental organizations and academia, all committed to ridding the world of LF.
At the end of 2007, annual programs to deliver LF medications were underway in 44 countries. Studies to map the scope of LF infection were either completed or in progress in 26 other nations. Egypt, one of the most successful countries, has almost completely halted transmission of LF after only 5 annual treatments, nearly eliminating a disease that has plagued the country since the time of the pharaohs.
For years, the world has considered LF a "neglected disease." But this programme shows how a concerted campaign can truly change the course of history. The Global Alliance estimates that worldwide, 2.5 million newborns have been saved from acquiring LF in the last 8 years alone.
The medicines have also prevented 14.6 million people who were infected with LF from developing symptoms, including permanent inflammation and disfigurement. There is even some evidence that patients already suffering from LF's symptoms improved after receiving the medications-a welcome and unanticipated result.
Yet despite this remarkable track record, the success of this effort is by no means assured. Limited resources, inadequate infrastructure, and political instability have hampered drug delivery programs in many countries. As of 2006, 28 of the 39 countries in Africa where LF is endemic had still not begun drug administration programs. .
It would be heartbreaking to come this close, yet not succeed in eliminating this devastating disease. Over the next 12 years, governments, donors, global health advocates and private citizens must work together to assure that all countries have access to the resources they need to eliminate LF.
With proper support and funding, as well as the continued willingness of drug manufacturers to donate medicines free of charge, the Global Alliance can succeed in eliminating LF by 2020. We are almost there. Now we must press ahead to the finish line.
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Dr. Jean-Pierre Garnier is the Chief Executive Officer of GlaxoSmithKline, a global healthcare corporation, and founding member of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF)
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