Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases

The purpose of this Request for Application (RFA) is to provide the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bureau for Global Health (GH) with assistance to decrease the burden of seven diseases recognized as ‘the Neglected Tropical Diseases’ (NTDs) that inflict economic, psychosocial, and physical damage on the poorest populations in the developing world. More than one billion people, mostly in the developing world, suffer from one or more NTDs. These diseases disproportionately impact poor and rural populations who lack access to safe water, sanitation and essential medicines. They cause sickness and disability, contribute to childhood malnutrition, compromise children’s mental and physical development, and can result in blindness, severe disfigurement and appreciable loss of productivity. USAID intends to award three cooperative agreements under this RFA. The focus of these cooperative agreements will be the control of seven NTDs - lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), onchocerciasis (river blindness), schistosomiasis (snail fever), three soil transmitted helminthes (hookworm, roundworm, and whipworm), and trachoma - that can be prevented and/or cured in an integrated fashion using cost-effective strategies for preventive chemotherapy (PCT) with highly effective drugs, many of which are donated by major pharmaceutical companies.