Briefing to the 63rd, World Health Assembly delegations
Monday, 17 May 2010, 17:30- 19:30
Room IX, Palais des Nations
Innovative proposals for neglected diseases - the case of Chagas: Increasing access to diagnosis and treatment and stimulating R&D.
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) would like to call the World Health Assembly delegates’ attention to the issues of neglect surrounding Chagas disease. We call for political leadership to improve the situation for those suffering from this deadly hidden affliction.
Agenda
Chairs: Eric Stobbaerts, Head of DNDi Latin America Office
Gemma Ortiz Genovese, Neglected Diseases Senior Advocacy & Liaison Officer, MSF
- Introduction - From advocacy to a concrete plan of action for change
- Patients speak out – ASAPECHA representative
- Diagnose and treat now: the MSF experience in Bolivia and Paraguay – Francisco Roman, MSF-Spain Vice-President and Gemma Ortiz Genovese
- R&D challenges to meet Chagas patients’ needs - Shing Chang, DNDi R&D Director
- Innovative proposals to support R&D needs - Pascale Boulet, DNDi IP & Policy advisor and Michelle Childs, Director Policy Advocacy, MSF Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
Discussion
Closing words
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been working in projects fighting Chagas disease since 1999. Currently, the organisation is working in three districts on the outskirts of Cochabamba, in Bolivia, the country registering the highest Chagas prevalence worldwide. Based on this experience, MSF has just launched an international campaign, “Chagas: it’s time to break the silence.”
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is an independent, not-for-profit product development partnership (PDP) working to research and develop new and improved treatments for deadly neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, and malaria. DNDi’s cost-effective, patient-driven model for drug research is proving to be a viable alternative for patients long neglected by market-driven drug development priorities. DNDi is currently the only PDP with a portfolio of Chagas-specific drug development projects. For more information please visit http://www.treatchagas.org/ and read more here.