HDI's mission is to advance world public health and human dignity, with a special focus on people who are significantly constrained by preventable degrading disease, and on diseases that can be completely eradicated, or eliminated as a public health problem.
We work in two principal ways. One is “to get the ball rolling” on important issues, using modest resources. HDI’s other aim is to play a “finger in the dike” role, stepping in to solve important, manageable problems with alacrity where larger, more cumbersome organizations sometimes delay.
Small, nimble, and innovative, HDI has leveraged expertise into permanently improved dignity, health, and economic advantage for millions of people at a time, using modest funds to do so.
HDI approaches problems that afflict the poorest segments of society by acting as a catalyst. HDI has been involved in NTDs for many years, starting with Guinea worm eradication in 1990. In 1997, HDI began working to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in Togo; success was achieved in 2009 when Togo became the first sub-Saharan country to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.