Finish the Fight
Op-ed By: Morgan Hines
I write this not only as a student at Northeastern University, but also as a citizen of Kentucky and of the world, concerned about the future of neglected tropical disease (NTD) treatments. NTDs are a group of parasitic and bacterial diseases that affect one in six people worldwide. Though you may have never heard of them, the seven most common NTDs infect over one billion people in 149 countries, causing disability and trapping families in poverty when parents cannot work and children cannot attend school.
International NTD treatment is one form of foreign aid that does not require much money. Pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Pfizer have donated treatments for the most common NTDs for free. What’s more, the large-scale treatment of NTDs for a community can be achieved using mass drug administration programs (MDA), a method used to distribute medications to a large group in a short amount of time. This means that the treatment of NTDs is one of the most cost effective health programs available today. In fact, it costs just 50 cents to treat and protect one person for a whole year from all seven of the most common NTDs.
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) NTD program has funded MDA programs for several years. Through USAID, the United States acts as the largest funder of NTD treatment programs in the world, supporting communities worldwide in their fight for health and development.
Unfortunately, in his budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018, President Trump proposed a devastating 28 percent cut to funding for international development and global health programs, including NTD treatment programs. The consequences of this cut are tragic: children missing life-saving treatments, mothers dying needlessly, and people suffering disfigurement and disability from diseases we’ve known how to treat for decades. In short, budget cuts cost lives.
We spend less than 1% of our budget on global health and development, but these investments pay incredible dividends for our international reputation and national security. If we don’t act now, the budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration could unravel decades of progress against the worst threats to human health and prosperity.
With my fellow Northeastern University students and the entire END7 student community, I urge Representative John Yarmuth and Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul to support robust funding for global health and development in the FY18 budget, including $125 million in funding for the USAID NTD Program. This vital funding is crucial to the success of the global effort to end the suffering caused by NTDs. We must reject the devastating cuts to global health and development proposed by the Trump Administration, and continue America’s leadership on global health. Supporting NTD treatment programs means supporting life for billions of people worldwide.
