Brussels, 17/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - Neglected infectious diseases, which are less well-known than the three endemic diseases linked to poverty (malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis), continue to be a heavy burden on the societies of poor countries. They are responsible for more than half a million deaths every year and cause various serious forms of disability among millions of individuals. The conference organised by the Directorate General Research of the European Commission on 8 and 9 November took stock of European and international actions in this field, where much remains to be done.
Although this conference mainly looked at requirements in terms of research, many of those who took the floor stressed the fact that drugs or vaccinations are not enough alone to fight the diseases which hit the poorest countries of the world the hardest, mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In situations where treatment already exists, it still has to become accessible to patients, which presupposes the existence of health-care services which are able to get hold of the treatment and deliver it to the patient. Most of the time, however, this service is lacking, even when a laboratory is prepared to donate a certain number of treatments. This point was made by Dr Robert Sebbag (Sanofi-Aventis), who explained that a laboratory may even be forced to destroy drugs, if it cannot get administrative authorisations before the expiry date of the medication. He said that the industry is prepared to provide drugs and vaccinations for the poorest countries as long as the rich countries agree to pay for these efforts out of their own health care expenditure. British Conservative member John Bowis, who is the author of a report on neglected diseases which was adopted by the European Parliament in September 2005 (EUROPE 9025), acknowledged the fact that we need to move away from the logic of charity and towards investing in the development of health-care systems and research. Stressing the need to step up research efforts, an American representative of the National Institute of Health, Michael Hollingdale, called for increased cooperation with research professionals in Europe.
Describing meningitis, caused by the bacterium Neisseira Meningitidis, Dr Gerd Pluschke of the Swiss Tropical Institute explained that the epidemic mainly affects Saharan Africa during the dry season, although the presence of the bacterium has been noted as far away as China and the United States, the Middle East, France and the United Kingdom. The bacterium is sensitive to certain antibiotics, but at this stage there is no treatment which offers a long-term response, or any effective treatment for children under the age of two. According to Gerd Pluschke, more needs to be understood of the dynamics of nasopharyngal colonisation. Rudy Hartskeerl of the Tropical Institute of the Netherlands appealed for leptospirosis to be included under the seventh framework programme for research. He explained that this disease, which is carried by rodents, kills more people than dengue. He spoke of new outbreaks in recent years in India, Australia, Malaysia and even in Europe. Even the plague is making new progress: in the 1970s, 15 countries reported cases of the plague, a number which has risen to 40 today. The disease has moved from Asia into Africa. Although the overall number of cases reported every year remains low, the risk of catching it has risen considerably, according to Nils Stenseth of the University of Oslo, as resistant strains of the disease have appeared. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, three outbreaks have been reported since March 2005. Mr Stenseth pleaded in favour of in-depth research into the climatic factors (heat and humidity) which seem to favour the disease. Although for certain haemorrhage fevers, the carrier and mode of transmission for the disease have been identified, there are others, such as buruli ulcus, about which nothing is known other than that it is related to a mycobacterium.
Commissioner Janez Potocnik pointed out that trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, threatens millions of people in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and that 150,000 people die from it every year. Leishmaniasis threatens 350 million individuals across 88 countries (including regions of the European Union, such as French Guyana: Ed) and kills 80,000 people every year. 18 million people suffer from Chagas disease, 120 million from lymphatic filariasis and 200 million from bilharziasis (which is also present in the Antilles and Guyana: Ed). For reasons of completeness, he then added onchocerciasis or river blindness to the diseases already mentioned. This disease causes blindness, various ascarioses, acute respiratory diseases and diarrhoea, which can be fatal in children. Pointing out that over the last 10 years, the Community framework programme for research had already contributed 70 million EUR to the funding of 55 research projects into neglected infectious diseases, Janez Potocnik stressed that amongst other things, these have helped to develop a new treatment for filariasis and to improve the fight against leishmaniasis and dengue. Under the seventh FPRD, infectious diseases (HIV, tuberculosis and malaria), neglected diseases, emerging infectious diseases (influenza, SARS, etc) and resistance, as well as clinical trials carried out in partnership with the European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDTCP), will once again come together in the same unit. The first call for proposals on neglected diseases is planned for summer 2007 and will focus on agents of trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. The call is open to research project into diagnosis and treatment. The Commission also hopes to support the creation of a network to develop a vaccine against leishmaniasis, according to Dario Zanon. Other diseases will be taken into account in subsequent calls for proposals. (oj)