Original endorsers of the London Declaration

The original endorsers of the London Declaration have since been joined by a diverse and global partnership of over 100 other organisations who are all committed to controlling, eliminating or eradicating ten NTDs.

The London Declaration

Uniting to Combat NTDs calls on all endemic countries and the rest of the international community to join us in our commitment to provide the necessary resources to lift the heavy burden that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) continue to place on over a billion people’s lives.

For decades, partners including pharmaceutical companies, donors, endemic countries and non-government organisations have contributed technical knowledge, drugs, research, funding and other resources to treat and prevent NTDs among the world’s poorest populations. Great progress has been made and we are committed to build on these efforts.

Inspired by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2020 Roadmap on NTDs, we believe there is a tremendous opportunity to control or eliminate at least ten of these devastating diseases by 2020. But no one company, organization or government can do it alone. With the right commitment, coordination and collaboration, the public and private sectors will work together to enable more than a billion people suffering from NTDs to lead healthier and more productive lives. As partners, with our varied skills and contributions, we commit to doing our part to:

• Sustain, expand and extend programmes that ensure the necessary supply of drugs and other interventions to help eradicate Guinea worm disease and, by 2020, help eliminate lymphatic filariasis, leprosy, sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis) and blinding trachoma.
• Sustain, expand and extend drug access programmes to ensure the necessary supply of drugs and other interventions to help control, by 2020, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths, Chagas disease, visceral leishmaniasis and river blindness.
• Advance research and development through partnerships and provision of funding to find  treatments and interventions for NTDs.
• Enhance collaboration and coordination on NTDs at national and international levels through public and private multilateral organisations, ensuring partners can work more efficiently and effectively together.
• Enable adequate funding with endemic countries to implement the NTD programmes that are necessary to achieve these goals, supported by strong and committed health systems at the national level.
• Provide technical support, tools and resources to support NTD-endemic countries to evaluate and monitor NTD programmes.
• Provide regular updates on the progress in reaching the 2020 goals and identify remaining gaps.

To achieve this ambitious 2020 vision, we call on all endemic countries and the international community to join us in the above commitments to provide the resources necessary across sectors to remove the primary risk factors for NTDs (poverty and exposure) by ensuring access to clean water and basic sanitation, improving living conditions, utilising vector control, educating communities on health and sanitation measures, and investing in stronger health systems in endemic areas.

We believe that, by working together, we can meet our goals by 2020 and chart a new course toward health and sustainability among the world’s poorest communities to a stronger, healthier future.