CNTD wins funding to fight elephantiasis

The Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases (CNTD) at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK has been awarded £10m by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to tackle lymphatic filariasis (LF), a disease more commonly known as elephantiasis.

The funding will support programmes to reduce the prevalence of LF and other related neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and make progress towards its elimination.

Douglas Alexander, international development secretary, says the award is part of a £50m grant to "wipe out deadly tropical diseases".

Elephantiasis is a parasitic infection that causes acute and chronic illness, disability and disfigurement in 81 countries in Asia-Pacific, Asia and the Americas. More than a billion people around the globe - 18% of the world's population - are at risk of contracting the disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that LF infection can be prevented by treating entire endemic communities once a year with two co-administered anti-parasitic drugs for a minimum of five years. With the DFID grant, CNTD will help 12 countries administer these drugs to more than a quarter of a billion people at risk of LF in these countries over the next five years.

"We have a real opportunity here to relegate LF to the history books," said Professor Moses Bockarie, director of CNTD.

The grant, alongside ongoing joint financial support from GlaxoSmithKline, will also support the activities of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF), a partnership of public and private sectors working towards LF elimination. GAELF is coordinating efforts with WHO and other disease control programmes and NTD partnerships.