Leading organizations signed and adopted the "Nagasaki Outcomes Statement," which calls for accelerated R&D, access and delivery for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
NTDs are a group of 20 preventable and treatable diseases that affect more than 1.6 billion people worldwide, particularly communities in low-income countries. Despite the need for diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, NTDs are under-researched, under-treated and under-funded.
To address this challenge, global health leaders convened at the Commemorative Symposium for G7 Health Ministers Meeting in Nagasaki, Japan, "Accelerating Research and Development, Access and Delivery for Neglected Tropical Diseases," to agree to the "Nagasaki Outcomes Statement" and call for sustainable financing and equitable access to interventions for NTDs. This call was answered by the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, who, at the G7 Summit, announced a commitment of $200 million to GHIT Fund for R&D over five years.
The Statement builds on and reaffirms the "Kigali Declaration on NTDs,"*1 a high-level political declaration that is mobilizing political will, community commitment, resources and action, and securing commitments needed to end suffering caused by NTDs. The Statement outlines how tackling NTDs is critical to achieving G7's ambitions on UHC*2 and pandemic preparedness.
Seven calls-to-action are outlined for the NTD community, including developing new ways to fund global NTD elimination.