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Initiative 6

Partnerships for long-term goals

Seven infectious diseases – filariasis, leprosy, guinea-worm disease, tetanus, Chagas disease, measles and polio – have been targeted by WHO for eradication/elimination. WHO's immediate aim is to lower their prevalence so that they are more easily managed by health systems.

Effective public/private sector partnerships are exemplified in WHO's Eradication and Elimination Programmes against these seven diseases. Like polio, the eradication of guinea-worm disease is in its final phase with a stubborn, but disappearing incidence in only 14 of the initial 20 countries where the disease was rampant at the beginning of the campaign.

Diseases such as leprosy and lymphatic filariasis, Chagas and measles are being eliminated, with the disease burden decreasing dramatically. Partnerships include public and private organizations and institutions, NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry.

Information on Eradication and Elimination Programmes is found at www.who.int/ctd and www.who.int/lep and www.filariasis.org/index

© World Health Organization 1999
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