The fifth meeting of the WHO Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (DTAG) was held in November 2022. The DTAG was established in 2019 to address gaps in NTD diagnostics through a harmonized approach for identifying and prioritizing diagnostic needs, and to inform WHO strategies and guidance on NTD diagnostics. The meeting addressed the end-to-end process of diagnostic development, including regulatory pathways, as we all as advocacy and resource mobilization, and engagement of diagnostics manufacturers and developers. The DTAG and its disease-specific and cross-cutting subgroups have supported and facilitated the development of several target product profiles for selected NTDs to address the critical diagnostic gaps.

The Global report on neglected tropical diseases 2023 provides a consolidated, up-to-date assessment of progress towards control, elimination and eradication of 20 diseases and disease groups (NTDs) globally, regionally and nationally. Progress is reported in the context of global commitments, strategies and targets set in the NTD road map 2021-2030. The document covers the first two years of implementation of the road map (2021 and 2022). The information presented is based primarily on epidemiological and programmatic data for interventions conducted in 2021 and gathered in 2022, but the report also describes a wide range of activities and accomplishments that were registered in both 2021 and 2022; comparisons are often made against 2020 and 2019 data, especially with regard to COVID-19 disruptions. It has four sections: Section 1 is an introduction. Section 2 presents the status of the global NTD response. Section 3 charts progress and developments against the three road map pillars. Section 4 sets out priority actions for 2023 and beyond to sustain implementation of the road map and its companion documents. Five annexes to the report provide information for 2021–2022 on regional progress (Annex 1), Weekly Epidemiology Record articles on NTDs (Annex 2), progress and challenges by disease (Annex 3), diagnostic target product profiles (Annex 4) and the status of commitments for donated medicines and health products (Annex 5).

A major objective of this open access book is to summarize the current status of Buruli Ulcer (BU) research for the first time. It will identify gaps in our knowledge, stimulate research and support control of the disease by providing insight into approaches for surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment of Buruli Ulcer. Book chapters will cover the history, epidemiology diagnosis, treatment and disease burden of BU and provide insight into the microbiology, genomics, transmission and virulence of Mycobacterium ulcerans.

"The presence, or absence, of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) can be seen as a proxy for poverty and for the success of interventions aimed at reducing poverty. Today, coverage of the public-health interventions recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) against NTDs may be interpreted as a proxy for universal health coverage and shared prosperity - in short, a proxy for coverage against neglect. As the world's focus shifts from development to sustainable development, from poverty eradication to shared prosperity, and from disease-specific goals to universal health coverage, control of NTDs will assume an important role towards the target of achieving universal health coverage, including individual financial risk protection. Success in overcoming NTDs is a "litmus test" for universal health coverage against NTDs in endemic countries. The first WHO report on NTDs (2010) set the scene by presenting the evidence for how these interventions had produced results. The second report (2013) assessed the progress made in deploying them and detailed the obstacles to their implementation. This third report analyses for the first time the investments needed to achieve the scale up of implementation required to achieve the targets of the WHO Roadmap on NTDs and universal coverage against NTDs. INVESTING TO OVERCOME THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES presents an investment strategy for NTDs and analyses the specific investment case for prevention, control, elimination and eradication of 12 of the 17 NTDs. Such an analysis is justified following the adoption by the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly in 2013 of resolution WHA6612 on neglected tropical diseases, which called for sufficient and predictable funding to achieve the Roadmap's targets and sustain control efforts. The report cautions, however, that it is wise investment and not investment alone that will yield success. The report registers progress and challenges and signals those that lie ahead. Climate change is expected to increase the spread of several vector-borne NTDs, notably dengue, transmission of which is directly influenced by temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and climate variability primarily through their effects on the vector. Investments in vector-borne diseases will avoid the potentially catastrophic expenditures associated with their control. The presence of NTDs will thereby signal an early warning system for climate-sensitive diseases. The ultimate goal is to deliver enhanced and equitable interventions to the most marginalized populations in the context of a changing public-health and investment landscape to ensure that all peoples affected by NTDs have an opportunity to lead healthier and wealthier lives."--Publisher's description.

Ten years in public health 2007-2017 chronicles the evolution of global public health over the decade that Margaret Chan served as Director-General at the World Health Organization. This series of chapters evaluates successes setbacks and enduring challenges during the decade. They show what needs to be done when progress stalls or new threats emerge. The chapters show how WHO technical leadership can get multiple partners working together in tandem under coherent strategies. The importance of country leadership and community engagement is stressed repeatedly throughout the chapters. Together we have made tremendous progress. Health and life expectancy have improved nearly everywhere. Millions of lives have been saved. The number of people dying from malaria and HIV has been cut in half. WHO efforts to stop TB saved 49 million lives since the start of this century. In 2015 the number of child deaths dropped below 6 million for the first time a 50% decrease in annual deaths since 1990. Every day 19 000 fewer children die. We are able to count these numbers because of the culture of measurement and accountability instilled in WHO. These chapters tell a powerful story of global challenges and how they have been overcome. In a world facing considerable uncertainty international health development is a unifying – and uplifting – force for the good of humanity.

"Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) blight the lives of a billion people worldwide and threaten the health of millions more. These ancient companions of poverty weaken impoverished populations, frustrate the achievement of health in the Millennium Development Goals and impede global health and economies has convinced governments, donors, the pharmaceutical industry and other agencies, including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), to invest in preventing and controlling this diverse group of diseases. Global efforts to control "hidden" diseases, such as dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease), leprosy, gains including the imminent eradication of dracunculiasis. Since 1989 (when most endemic countries began reporting monthly from each endemic village), the number of new dracunculiasis cases has fallen from 892 055 in 12 endemic countries to 3190 in 4 countries in 2009, a decrease of more than 99%. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends five public-health strategies for the prevention and control of NTDs: preventive chemotherapy; intensified case-management; vector control; the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene; and veterinary public health (that is, applying veterinary sciences to ensure the health and well-being of humans). Although one approach and delivered locally." - p. vii

1. Introduction and methods of work.-- 2. Alcohol: equity and social determinants.-- 3. Cardiovascular disease: equity and social determinants.-- 4. Health and nutrition of children: equity and social determinants.-- 5. Diabetes: equity and social determinants.-- 6. Food safety: equity and social determinants.-- 7. Mental disorders: equity and social determinants.-- 8. Neglected tropical diseases: equity and social determinants.-- 9. Oral health: equity and social determinants.-- 10. Unintended pregnancy and pregnancy outcome: equity and social determinants.-- 11. Tobacco use: equity and social determinants.-- 12. Tuberculosis: the role of risk factors and social determinants.-- 13. Violence and unintentional injury: equity and social determinants.-- 14. Synergy for equity.

Specialist groups have often advised health ministers and other decision makers in developing countries on the use of social health insurance (SHI) as a way of mobilizing revenue for health, reforming health sector performance, and providing universal coverage. This book reviews the specific design and implementation challenges facing SHI in low- and middle-income countries and presents case studies on Ghana, Kenya, Philippines, Colombia, and Thailand.