WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A first-ever campaign to control and/or eliminate seven poverty-promoting, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the African nation of Burundi—the world’s seventh, least developed country—has been launched by the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (Global Network), an alliance led by the Sabin Vaccine Institute. The Global Network is partnering with the Burundi Ministry of Public Health, the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) at Imperial College of London and CBM to train more than 8,000 Volunteer Community Drug Distributors to administer “rapid impact packages” to more than 800,000 fellow Burundians in 2007. Planning is currently underway to expand NTD control coverage throughout the country in 2008.
