HIGHLIGHTS
DFID - £50 million to wipe out deadly tropical diseases. Click here for more information.
6th GAELF MEETING
1st - 3rd June 2010,
Korea
The meeting report is available in English and French
Who we are
The Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF) is a public-private partnership created in 2000 to assist in advocacy, resource mobilisation and programme implementation.
GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co Inc. have pledged all the albendazole and Mectizan® (in Africa where onchocerciasis is prevalent) necessary to achieve elimination - the largest drug donations in history, valued at more than $1 billion.
No public health programme has ever expanded as quickly as the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF). Annual treatments have jumped rapidly up from 25 million in 12 countries in 2000 to 496 million in 81 countries in 2008. The rapid expansion can be attributed to several factors, including the generous drug donations and the fact that governments in endemic regions increasingly view the programme as a tangible way to address poverty and improve health. In addition, GPELF is seeing benefits beyond the primary programme intent. In integrating its work with other health programmes, including malaria and river blindness, among others, local health systems are able to maximize resources leading to cost efficiencies. The drugs that prevent LF also eliminate intestinal worms, providing an additional, immediate benefit to LF treatment*. Annual treatments have shown dramatic and persistent reductions in hookworm and roundworm infections, improving children's growth and nutrition.
*Mectizan® (ivermectin) has formal regulatory approval for lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis and is donated by Merck & Co Inc. for those indications.