Recent news
November 2011
GHTC members launch new project to help fight neglected disease
November 8, 2011 -- GHTC members the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and OneWorld Health (OWH) are part of a consortium formed to investigate new treatments to fight the neglected disease visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The consortium will conduct a four-year project involving more than 10,000 patients in clinical and pharmacovigilance studies to research diagnosis and treatment of the disease in Bangladesh and India, where rates of VL are among the highest in the world. VL is parasitic disease that is especially deadly for women and children, affecting approximately half a million people around the world each year.
The treatment for VL used to involve a month of intravenous medicines that was difficult to administer in remote hospitals and included a risk of fatal liver damage. Treatment has drastically improved over the last decade as scientists have discovered new drug combinations to fight the disease. The goal of the project is to find the most effective treatment, and to provide the Indian and Bangladeshi governments with enough data to begin practicing management strategies that will help control and eliminate VL. DNDi and OWH are collaborating with:
- The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR)
- The National Control Programmes of India and Bangladesh
- Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
- The Bihar State Health Society
- The Indian Council for Medical Research
