Drug Donation Programmes in the Control and Elimination of NTDs

This chapter reviews the history and evolution of the medicine donation model that has been the mainstay of neglected tropical disease (NTD) control programmes since Merck & Co., Inc. made the decision to donate its medicine Mectizan® for the treatment and control of onchocerciasis. The 2012 London Declaration marked the launch of an expanded and coordinated international effort against NTDs, inspired by the World Health Organisation road map to eradicate or prevent transmission of neglected tropical diseases by the year 2020. This boosted the progress and scale-up of both the preventive chemotherapy diseases (PCDs) programmes and the innovative and intensified disease management (IDM) (WHO). We discuss the challenges, lessons learned by all the stakeholders and the unprecedented collaboration between pharmaceutical companies for effective treatment of some of the NTDs. The socio-economic impact of the donations of medicines on the NTD control programmes and what the next 10 years may hold are briefly reviewed.