BRICS in the Response to Neglected Tropical Diseases

BRICS in the Response to Neglected Tropical Diseases

By: Amber Cashwell, Anupama Tantri, Ashley Schmidt, Greg Simon, Neeraj Mistry
Publication: Bulletin of the World Health OrganizationJune 2014; 92: 461–462| doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.13.132555.

Abstract

BRICS’ leaders have an opportunity to pool capacity, technical expertise and financial resources to accelerate progress towards the 2020 goals for neglected tropical disease control and elimination. First, they can lead by example. Brazil, China, India and South Africa can help close the treatment gap by prioritizing neglected tropical diseases, scaling up national programmes and achieving domestic goals for control and elimination of the diseases relevant to their settings. Second, by sharing expertise each BRICS country can help other countries tackle neglected tropical diseases, through new partnerships. Third, BRICS can shape the policy agenda, increasing political commitment, mobilizing resources and implementing policies that support neglected tropical disease control and elimination on the international level.