Johnson & Johnson and The Task Force for Child Survival and Development ("the Task Force") today formally launched a partnership designed to help reduce the burden of soil transmitted helminthiasis (STH), an infection of intestinal worms, in children. The announcement was made at a ceremony in Cameroon, where millions of children are infected with or at risk of STH. The country will receive the partnership's first donation of four million doses of mebendazole, one of a class of medicines known as antihelmintics that are used to treat numerous kinds of worm infections.
Through this partnership, Johnson & Johnson is committed to donating 50 million doses of mebendazole in 2007 to treat 25 million children in several countries, the largest pharmaceutical donation to treat intestinal worms to date. After Cameroon, doses will go to Bangladesh and Uganda throughout the year, with other countries still under consideration. The partnership is the first such entity created specifically to address global treatment and control of STH.
Intestinal worms infect more than 1.2 billion people, or 20 percent of the world's population, yet the World Health Organization reports that fewer than 20 percent of the estimated 400 million children at risk of STH were reached with deworming treatment in 2005 far short of the World Health Assembly's target to regularly treat 75 percent of at-risk school children by 2010.
Widely found in tropical and subtropical areas, STH symptoms include severe abdominal swelling, pain, diarrhea and fatigue. Its effects are especially dire for children because STH causes malnutrition, increases susceptibility to other serious infections, and stunts growth during a critical developmental period. If children are left untreated, the disease leads to impaired cognitive development, reduced school attendance and performance and, ultimately, decreased productivity as adults.
"This program provides the critical push necessary to draw attention to the problem of STH in children so it can be addressed appropriately," said Dr. Nana A. Y. Twum-Danso, director of the new partnership at the Task Force for Child Survival and Development. "Our ultimate vision is to free the world's children of intestinal worms so they can grow, play, learn and enrich their communities."
Important First Steps in Cameroon
Cameroon was selected as the launch site in part because it has demonstrated leadership in recognizing STH as a major public health problem and its national deworming campaign for children has support from the highest levels of government. The country has in place school-based channels and programs for drug distribution and related health and hygiene education, and this donation will help Cameroon increase tenfold the children it reaches, from roughly 200,000 to about two million.
"We are honored to have been chosen as a lead beneficiary of this program," said the Honorable UrbainOlanguenaAwono, Minister of Health of Cameroon. "This donation of mebendazole, and the support from both partners, will help us make a rapid impact."
First of its Kind Partnership Tackling STH Goes Beyond Treatment
The partnership between Johnson & Johnson and the Task Force was formed in 2005 because both groups recognized the severe consequences of unabated worm infections in children, which are compounded by limited access to effective treatment in the poorest countries.
The intended scope of the program goes far beyond the donation of medicines. Johnson & Johnson and the Task Force plan to cultivate partnerships with communities, governments, NGOs, international development agencies, foundations and corporations that can advance the other elements of comprehensive STH control health education, clean water and sanitation infrastructure. In addition, they will seek to coordinate closely with other public health interventions, including immunization and Vitamin A campaigns, school meal and other mass drug distribution programs.
"No single entity can counter the ravages of STH alone, but this donation reflects our company's responsibility to the world community and our desire to reduce and control the global burden of childhood STH infections," said Christian M. Verbeeck, international vice president for the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical franchise. "Drug treatment is a cornerstone of a larger undertaking that must involve others who can provide specialized expertise and services. Sustainable change in the health of these children and communities will happen only if we unite behind this as a global health issue."
Program Management
The Task Force for Child Survival and Development, which has more than 20 years of experience managing public-private partnerships and drug donation programs, oversees the strategic, technical, and operational components of the program.
All efforts are guided by a Mebendazole Advisory Committee (MAC) comprised of independent experts acting as an authoritative body on varied critical technical and strategic issues. Together with the MAC and relevant UN agencies (including the WHO, the World Food Program and UNICEF), the Task Force and Johnson & Johnson will monitor and evaluate the impact of activities to ensure continuous improvement of the program.
About Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as well as a provider of related services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics markets. The more than 200 Johnson & Johnson operating companies employ approximately 122,000 men and women and sell products throughout the world.
About the Task Force for Child Survival and Development
The Task Force for Child Survival and Development is a nonprofit organization working since 1984 to improve health and human development around the world. It has a legacy of creating successful partnerships that address international and domestic health problems. The Task Force works with leaders and organizations to advance public health by creating coalitions, reaching consensus, and leveraging scarce resources. It has expertise in the areas of infectious diseases, informatics, child health and development, and injury control.
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