HIGHLIGHTS

Mrs Teiti Bwenawa receives GAELF Travel Award
Mrs Teiti Bwenawa from Kiribati received the cumulative highest score and was awarded the travel grant to attend this year's ASTMH meeting in Philadelphia, USA. To read Mrs Bwenawa's story click here

7th GAELF Meeting

Provisional dates (17th-18th November 2012) have been set for the 7th GAELF meeting in Washington DC, USA.

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 466 million in 72 countries in 2010. 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.