USAID extends RTI International-led project to eliminate neglected tropical diseases

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded a three-year extension to RTI International to continue a project to eliminate neglected tropical diseases. 

This extends the project, called ENVISION, to September 30, 2019, and increases the project's ceiling by $175 million.  

ENVISION is USAID's largest project to date that is dedicated to the control and elimination of NTDs. The project is aiming to support NTD endemic countries to achieve their control and elimination targets for lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, three soil-transmitted helminths (roundworm, hookworm, whipworm) and trachoma. 

ENVISION currently provides assistance to 19 NTD endemic countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Nearly half a billion treatments have been provided to people at risk for NTDs with ENVISION project support. In total, USAID has helped to support more than 1.3 billion treatments to people living in NTD endemic areas.

USAID's NTD program is the largest public-private partnership in the agency's 50-year history. To date, it has enabled $8.8 billion worth of donated medicines to be distributed to populations at risk of NTDs, representing one of the most cost-effective and innovative collaborations in global health in history.

"The success of ENVISION is undoubtedly due to the success of our partnership, our technical and operational competence, and commitment to work collaboratively and in close partnership with USAID, the World Health Organization, endemic countries, and other stakeholders towards global NTD control and elimination goals," said Lisa Rotondo, ENVISION project director at RTI. 

"Together, we have been at the forefront in the tremendous scale-up of NTD efforts, with host governments' heightened commitments and new funding available to support global efforts and national programs," Rotondo continued. "Our role as global leaders in this complex environment is a critical one; while guidelines struggle to keep up with national programs' fantastic progress towards control and elimination, our project's results and lessons learned play a major role in influencing global discussions."
 
ENVISION (www.NTDenvision.org) is implemented by RTI International in partnership with CBM International, The Carter Center, Fred Hollows Foundation, Helen Keller International, IMA World Health, Light for the World, Sightsavers, and World Vision. For more information on RTI's work in NTDs, go to www.rti.org/ntds or follow us on Twitter at @RTIfightsNTDs.