THE TASK FORCE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH INC

Funded principally by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the NTD-SC supports Operational Research (OR) to eliminate neglected tropical diseases that threaten the lives and well-being of more than one billion people in some of the world's poorest communities, serving as the Secretariat for the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD). As of 2024, the NTD-SC managed a portfolio of more than 330 OR projects spanning 60 countries, and targeting all five neglected tropical diseases amenable to preventive chemotherapy: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, STH, schistosomiasis and trachoma, as well as other NTDs such as podoconiosis, leprosy and leishmaniasis. OR projects are designed to address challenges that prevent programs from achieving disease control and elimination goals and to inform World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and guidance for NTD programs. In 2024, COR-NTD convened NTD Operational Research meetings in New Delhi, India and Brisbane, Australia in collaboration with regional WHO offices, ministries of health and local research partners, and completed the planning for a pioneering Africa-based operational research meeting on NTDs, in partnership with the African Research Network on NTDs, to take place in Kigali, Rwanda in early 2025. These regional conferences bring together researchers and country program managers and implementers to address the challenges faced by NTD programs that prevent the shared goal of eliminating these infections. With support from USAID in 2024, the NTD-SC also issued calls for proposals to support research focused on migrant and mobile populations and continued to support the African Research Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ARNTD) Small Grants Program. ARNTD manages a portfolio of research projects carried out by young African scientists at early stages of their careers and in 2024 the ARNTD call for proposals was also expanded to mid-career researchers for the first time. During the period, the NTD-SC also conducted a competitive process to identify Africa-based partners to transition the procurement of research supplies from a US-based to Africa-based supply chain.