The document discusses neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which affect over 1.5 billion people worldwide but receive little research funding due to lack of profit incentive. The author would ask the UN Secretary General to create a global R&D fund for NTDs, contributed to by all UN member states proportionately to GDP. The fund would be controlled by WHO and require patent owners to invest in developing countries. This would foster worldwide health R&D cooperation to develop treatments for the diseases plaguing the global south.

1. A. If you had the opportunity, what actions
would you demand of the United Nations
Secretary General and why?
Application: Express Yourself
IE Business School: Masters in Management
Jeffrey van Aart

2. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD’s)
 Group of parasitic & bacterial infectious diseases
o River blindness
o Elephantiasis
o Intestinal infections
o Snail fever
o Dengue fever
o ..........

3. Why is it so important?
 Affect over 1.5 billion of the world’s population
o 875 million children
o Severe pain, long-term disability, premature death, mental health problems
o Cause of death for over 170,000 people per year
o Africa, South America, Southeast Asia (“global south”)
 NTD burden is greater than that of Malaria or tuberculosis
 NTD’s are a significant contributor to healthy life years lost

4. Impact on individuals?
 Dramatic impact on ability of people to work
 NTD’s cause severe disfigurement & disabilities
 Impact on life expectancy, education & economic
opportunities

5. Impact on society?
 Low availability of a sufficiently healthy & available
workforce
 NTD’s are standing in the way of country’s development
 NTD’s are a major cause of poverty in developing nations
 Areas where access to clean water, sanitation & health care is limited
 Poverty causes more inequality
 Inequality causes conflicts

6. However…..
 NTD’s are treatable and preventable
 In some cases, treatments are really inexpensive
 e.g. treatment for snail fever cost $ 0.20 per child per year
 For less than $ 0.50 per person per year, we can ensure that
people get the donated medicines they need

7.  So, why do NTD’s continue to place such a heavy
burden on our planet?
 Money shortage
 Global inequalities in medical R&D
 R&D is driven by commercial interests

8. Money shortage
 Global health community needs $ 750 million annually
 For preventive treatment and care of NTD’s
 Currently just about $ 300 million
 However, president Obama allocated $ 6,2 billion to
address HIV & AIDS
 Why don’t we tackle NTD’s?
 It costs less money
 It has as much impact
 Is it less known?
 Is there no market to earn money?

9. Global inequalities in medical R&D
 Poor countries : 90 % of global diseases burden
 Only 10 % of global R&D budget is spent on diseases in
these poor countries
 Last 25 years: 1500 new medical drugs developed
 Only 20 to 30 explicitly to cure tropical diseases
 Indication: global R&D for cancer > global R&D for all
tropical diseases

10. Why are there global inequalities in medical
R&D?
 R&D is driven by commercial interests
 Pharmaceutical industry is influenced by international
intellectual property rights regimes
 97 % of patents  rich countries
 Incentives for life-saving R&D and medicines are too
limited in some countries
 Lack of purchasing power in poor countries
 Why should we invest in costly R&D budgets in these markets?
 Lack of investment return

11. Conclusion
 Pharmaceutical industry is driven by money & profit
 NTD’s drug market is not profitable
Not enough R&D
An enormous amount of people are still affected

12. Why the United Nations?
 World Health Organization (WHO) : Specialized agency of UN
 Treating NTD’s will have a direct and indirect impact on the
sustainable development goals (SDG’s)

13. So if I had the opportunity to meet United Nations Secretary
General, I would ask him to create an efficient…....

14. Global R&D fund for NTD’s
 Consisting of donations and a yearly contribution by each
country
 Every member state of the UN has to contribute a certain
amount
 Proportional to its GDP

15. Global R&D fund for NTD’s
 Controlled by World Health Organization
 A common budget
 Patent owners have to invest in “global south”
 Worldwide cooperation in the field of health R&D

16. Because
Healthy people create healthy societies

17. And do not forget…..
Only when we have healthy societies, we can build
healthy and sustainable economies

18. Sources
 https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ntd/index.html
 http://www.end.org/whatwedo/ntdoverview
 http://ieg.worldbankgroup.org/Data/reports/gfhr.pdf
 https://www.devex.com/news/what-not-to-neglect-in-tackling-ntds-
85530
 http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/submissions/InternationalPo
licyNetwork.pdf
 http://quakerservice.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2011/07/Developmentfinal20Apr.pdf
 https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/research/other-causes/neglected-
tropical-diseases-ntds/
 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs