WHO, Bayer renew collaboration for elimination of NTDs

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, Bayer AG, have renewed a collaboration that will expand treatment free of charge to hundreds of thousands of people against selected neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The five-year agreement involves the donation of quality-assured medicines for treatment of Chagas disease and human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), estimated at $ 8 million. Bayer will also provide $8.2 million to support the crosscutting activities of the NTDs road map 20301 during 2021–2026. The cumulative value of Bayer’s support and assistance to WHO since 2002 is estimated to exceed $40 million. Over the decades, medicines donated by several pharmaceutical companies have allowed WHO to expand its global NTD control and elimination programmes. With the help of health ministries and an array of partners, donated medicines have enabled over 500 million fewer people from requiring treatment against NTDs than in 2010 and have resulted in 43 countries eliminating at least one NTD.