Pointing out that the pharmaceutical industry was ignoring the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), the Centre has asked the industry to chip in by manufacturing required drugs to combat these NTDs which impact millions of 'faceless and nameless' downtrodden people in India.

“Pharmaceutical industry has been neglecting the NTDs and there is not sufficient number of drugs and enough supply to treat these diseases impacting the millions. For Kala-azar, there is only one company that supplies drugs for our national programme. That also takes six months to supply the drugs after orders. In many other cases also the situation is the same,” said joint secretary in the Health Ministry Anshu Prakash at an interaction with the industry.

“Another concern is the quality. These diseases affect the weaker sections in the society who are faceless and nameless. The industry should not neglect these diseases. The companies should also come forward to supply drugs under the CSR programmes,” he urged the industry.

Pointing that the government was taking the lead to combat these diseases, he said the synergies from all stakeholders like the industry, research and development agencies, organisations and the patients should be harnessed to battle these diseases. Claiming that the government was having national programmes for almost all of these diseases, he said the programme for rabies will also be launched soon.

Apart from the officials from the government, representatives from health organizations, industry and international experts joined the deliberations to map the future strategies for the control and elimination of neglected diseases in New Delhi on September 9. The consultation “Partnering for Success – Reducing India's Burden of Neglected Diseases” was held by Global Health Progress (GHP), Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) and International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA).

In 2012, the World Health Organisation (WHO) established targets for the control and elimination of 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020. Governments around the world - working in partnership with civil society organisations, and the pharmaceutical industry - have joined in a global coordinated effort to meet this challenge.

The government of India, with the support of international partners, has made significant progress tackling lymphatic filariasis, yaws, leprosy and other NTDs in recent years. But India’s massive population, widespread poverty and malnutrition still present challenges in controlling neglected diseases. Continued progress against neglected diseases in India is crucial to achieving the WHO’s goals by 2020, the conference felt.

Speaking on behalf of Global Health Progress, IFPMA director Andrew Jenner said with 55 health partnerships benefiting people in India, the industry is committed to working hand-in-hand with government and other stakeholders and is bringing concrete results to the way we fight these diseases now and in the future.

He pointed out that the pharma partners supplied 1.12 billion treatments meeting increased requests from endemic countries over the past one year. More than 40 endemic countries developed multi-year integrated NTD plans, he added.

Highlighting the impact of NTDs on poor and hard to reach populations and the need to take action, former Health Minister Dr CP Thakur, MP, said Kala-azar can be wiped out from India if the government showed will and determination.

NTDs predominantly affect the world’s poorest people, leading to significant illness and debilitation that hampers childhood development, limits worker productivity, and predisposes sufferers to stigma. Globally, more than one billion people are affected by NTDs and more than 500,000 people die every year.