Global health leaders adopt the Nagasaki Outcomes Statement and jointly call for the acceleration of R&D, access and delivery for neglected tropical diseases

TOKYO, July 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, 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 US$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.

In addition to six asks to G7 Leaders to support investments in R&D, access and delivery, the Statement recognizes that there is a key role for the global NTD community to play. Seven calls-to-action are outlined for the NTD community, including developing innovative funding mechanisms to mobilize substantial funding for NTD elimination.

Six asks to the G7 Leaders (abridged version; see full text in Appendix):

1. G7 Leaders to renew their commitment to end NTDs by translating these commitments into ongoing political prioritization, bold action and investments.
2. The G7 should support long-term, sustainable financing for not-for-profit/alternative models of R&D: for example, Product Development Partnerships (PDPs), as well as strategies and partnerships to ensure access to, and delivery of, the resulting products.
3. G7 Leaders to further prioritize NTDs and to champion NTDs at future G7, G20 Summits and other high-level political fora like the UNGA.
4. The G7 should leverage their resources to support sustainable research networks rooted in NTD-endemic countries, developing new health tools that can be used at the primary health care (PHC) level promoting south-south collaboration and capacity building, ultimately accelerating R&D and equitable access to health solutions for NTD.
5. G7 should leverage some of the access initiatives like Pooled Procurement Mechanisms (PPMs) and be also used for the procurement of NTD health technologies.
6. G7 Leaders to continue supporting the World Health Organization (WHO) Global NTD program and all WHO member states to ensure that NTDs are not "neglected," even within the WHO.

Seven Calls to Action for Global Community (abridged version: see full text in Appendix)

1. Increase visibility of NTDs from the community level, and at country, regional and global levels to highlight the socio-economic impact of NTDs.
2. Endemic countries to take more political leadership and ensure efficient use of resources by leveraging and increasing existing resource mobilization, sustainable procurement and service delivery platforms for the delivery of integrated, cross-sectoral people-centered services for NTDs.
3. Develop innovative funding mechanisms to mobilize substantial funding for NTD control and elimination.
4. Resource mobilization for the most severely underfunded NTDs should be prioritized.
5. All R&D actors and partners need to promote knowledge and technology sharing more openly and more transparently, by encouraging sharing of research knowledge, data and costs throughout the R&D process to improve efficiency in R&D and access.
6. Re-evaluate all the steps across the access value chain (AVC) from innovation to access and delivery and explore ways to improve and accelerate the process to foster a seamless end-to-end ecosystem.
7. Connect, coordinate and create a multisectoral approach, enabling end-to-end ecosystem for the acceleration of R&D, access and delivery.

Signed by approximately 20 organizations and individuals*³ including Uniting to Combat NTDs, Nagasaki University and GHIT Fund, the Nagasaki Outcomes Statement commends G7 Leaders for including NTDs in the G7 Leaders' communiqué and for prioritizing universal health coverage (UHC^*2) and pandemic preparedness. It urges Leaders to continue to support investments in R&D for vaccines, new drugs and diagnostics for NTDs, as well as financing to ensure access of these innovations and technologies to the most vulnerable populations affected by NTDs.

To read the full Nagasaki Outcomes Statement, visit https://www.ghitfund.org/assets/othermedia/Nagasaki_Outcome_Statement_EN.pdf

*1 About Kigali Declaration (Kigali Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs))
"The Kigali Declaration on NTDs" is 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. Launched at the "Kigali Summit on Malaria and NTDs," held in Rwanda in June 2022, the Declaration has already galvanized substantial commitments from donor governments, endemic country governments, pharmaceutical companies and NGOs, with US$1.5 billion in financial commitments and 19 billion donated tablets. Created in consultation with stakeholders around the world, the Declaration puts individuals, communities and countries at the center of the NTD response. Each signatory makes a unique and vital contribution toward ending NTDs. Collectively, these translate into incredible progress being made. The actions set out in this Declaration will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) target on NTDs and deliver the targets set out in the World Health Organization's NTD Road map to eradicate two NTDs, control at least one NTD in 100 countries and reduce the number of people requiring therapeutic intervention for NTDs by 90% by 2023.
(Source: Eisai Co., Ltd., Uniting to Combat NTDs:
https://www.eisai.co.jp/news/2022/news202250.html
https://unitingtocombatntds.org/kigali-declaration/)

*2 About Universal Health Coverage
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means "access for all people to basic health services when they need throughout their lives at a cost they can afford." The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted at the UN Summit in September 2015, lists the achievement of UHC as Goal 3 (health and well-being). More than 50 years ago, in 1961, Japan's health care system's improvements progressed such as the realization of the universal health insurance system, reducing medical disparities, and today, Japanese citizens are enjoying the highest life expectancy in the world. The Japanese government has listed the promotion of UHC as a policy goal and basic policy in its "Basic Policy for Peace and Health" announced in September 2015, and drawing on Japan's experience, is actively working toward the realization of UHC in every country.
(Source: Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association https://www.jpma.or.jp/about/)

*3 About the Nagasaki Outcomes Statement and endorsers
Please refer to the full text of the "Nagasaki Outcome Statement" on pages 9-10 in Appendix.

The Nagasaki Outcomes Statement was jointly developed at the Commemorative Symposium for G7 Health Ministers Meeting in Nagasaki "Accelerating Research and Development, Access and Delivery for Neglected Tropical Diseases", organized by the Global Health Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), Nagasaki University and Uniting to Combat NTDs. 

The participating organizations for the Symposium include (in no particular order) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), The END Fund, Baylor College of Medicine, The Global Health Innovation Alliance Accelerator (GHIAA), The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE), Government of Japan (GOJ), Japan Alliance on Global NTDs (JAGntd), Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA), Medicines Development for Global Health, Eisai Co., Ltd., Astellas Pharma Inc., Merck KGaA, MSF Access Campaign, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Nagasaki University, The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium, SDGs Promise Japan (SPJ), the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), United Nations Development Programme-Access and Delivery Partnership (UNDP-ADP), Uniting to Combat NTDs (Uniting) and the WHO (Global WHO NTD Program and Regional Office for Africa (AFRO).

About Global Health Innovative Technology Fund
The GHIT Fund is a Japan-based international public-private partnership fund (PPP) that was formed between the Government of Japan, multiple pharmaceutical companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The GHIT Fund invests and manages an R&D portfolio of development partnerships aimed at addressing neglected diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases, which afflict the world's vulnerable and underserved populations. In collaboration with global partners, the GHIT Fund mobilizes Japanese industry, academia, and research institutes to create new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases.
https://www.ghitfund.org/en

About Nagasaki University
The origin of Nagasaki University can be traced back to the time when Dr. Pompe van Meerdervoort, a medical officer at the Naval Training Center, began medical education in a room of the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office on November 12, 1857. Its direct predecessor was Nagasaki Medical College, founded in 1923, which merged with other national institutions in Nagasaki to form "Nagasaki University" in 1949.As of April 2023, Nagasaki University has ten faculties and eight graduate schools (including an interdisciplinary graduate school), and its basic philosophy is "to inherit the traditional culture rooted in Nagasaki, to cultivate a rich spirit, and to contribute to the harmonious development of society by creating science that supports peace on earth. Based on this philosophy, Nagasaki University promotes education, research, and social contribution activities to become a world-class planetary health center.

About Uniting to Combat NTDs
Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) exists to end NTDs by mobilising resources in support of the World Health Organization's NTD road map and the Sustainable Development Goals. We envision a world where no-one suffers from these preventable and treatable diseases. We work with over 150 partners around the world to create the political will and an enabling environment for change to collectively address the NTD crisis. Together, we champion investment for NTDs.

For more information, contact:

GHIT Fund
Katy Lenard at +1-301-280-5719 or [email protected]
Eriko Mugitani / Mina Ohata  +81-36441-2032 or
[email protected] / [email protected]

Nagasaki University
Masanori Komeda +81-95-819-2156 / [email protected]

Uniting to Combat NTDs
Louisa Tribe +44(0)7412 523 750 / [email protected]  

SOURCE Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund