Report of the first global partner's meeting on Neglected Tropical Diseases. 2007 ― A turning point
Geneva, 19−20 April 2007
Overview
The Global Partners’ Meeting on Neglected Tropical Diseases was held at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 19–20 April 2007. Some 200 participants attended the meeting, including representatives of WHO Member States, United Nations agencies, the World Bank, philanthropic foundations, universities, pharmaceutical companies, international nongovernmental organizations and other institutions dedicated to contributing their time, efforts and resources to control neglected tropical diseases. This meeting declared to the world that control of these diseases deserves high priority on the global public health agenda and still greater determination to deliver appropriate health care to the millions of poor people in need.
The vision, commitment, determination and steps forward were highlighted by the inspiring declarations of His Excellency Mr Blaise Compaoré, President of Burkina Faso, and His Excellency Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The form and structure of this report has evolved from the opening speech delivered by Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. Its theme – that the meeting marked a turning point in the long and notorious history of some of humanity’s oldest diseases – has been developed to emphasize where circumstances and conditions are being transformed by governments and their partners to bring relief from the ravages of these diseases.
The material provided by representatives during two days of extensive debate, where verbal or actual, was recorded. This report does not contain all these contributions. Rather, it presents selected quotations arranged by subject matter. Although some minor editing was required for conformity with WHO house style, most of the quotations are presented verbatim and in alphabetical order by the speakers’ institution or the government ministry.
No attempt has been made to prioritize the order of the material presented or to suggest that some quotations are more important than others. Each unique contribution is of value and served to emphasize the sincere commitment of all partners to advance the control of neglected tropical diseases
The first Global Partners Meeting in 2007 marked ‘a turning point’ in bringing together scientists, industry, donors in upholding health equity.
Watch the recording sessions