Published on 2.2.10
ONE
In a period of intense fiscal restraint, domestically and globally, there are going to be many global health and development advocates that are displeased by the release of President Obama’s FY2011 Budget Request today. But as one of ONE’s newest employees—and only a month out from my previous job doing policy work for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases—I have to admit that I’m quietly wearing my party hat after seeing President Obama’s request of $155 million for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
At ONE, we recognize that there is no silver bullet to fighting poverty in Africa and across the developing world; similarly there is no one intervention that will ensure that those living in poverty can enjoy good and sustainable health. Yet the scale of the NTD infections around the world—more than one billion people are infected—also suggests that a growing US financial commitment to NTD control means we can make a cross-cutting impact on the diseases that are perhaps the most common denominator for the world’s poorest people.
