First Global Partners' Meeting on Neglected Tropical Diseases
Date: 19–20 April 2007
Place: Geneva, Switzerland
WHO treats some tropical diseases as a group, referring to them as 'neglected' as they lack visibility at the international level. These diseases are rarely seen today in populations that enjoy access to good health services and a reasonable standard of living. Yet, at least one billion people, one-sixth of the world's population, currently suffer from one or more of these neglected diseases.
The objectives of the first Global Partners' Meeting are to:
- create the opportunity for partners for specific diseases or interventions to come together and synergize their agendas and plans;
- strengthen cooperation to enhance public sector capacity and partnerships for sustaining control/elimination of NTDs; and
- enhance interaction among partnerships and initiatives where WHO can further promote the concept of control of NTDs and its integration with other large-scale interventions.