Governments and drug companies pledge to eliminate 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020

Public and private sector partners—including the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates; 13 drug companies; and Microsoft founder Bill Gates—have pledged to work together towards the elimination of 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020.

The partners signed the London declaration, which is based on the World Health Organization’s roadmap on neglected tropical diseases, which itself set a plan to eliminate or control 17 diseases affecting more than one billion people around the world (BMJ 2010;341:c5855, doi:10.1136/bmj.c5855).

The signatories to the declaration have pledged to ensure the supply of drugs and other interventions to eradicate Guinea worm disease by 2015 and eliminate lymphatic filariasis, …