The Flagship Fund
The Flagship Fund’s purpose is to ensure every child and adult at risk of a neglected tropical disease has access to care.
Overview
The Flagship Fund works across five neglected tropical diseases to deliver mass drug administration campaigns, perform life-changing surgeries that prevent blindness and disability, train health workers and provide education on prevention to ensure these programs are sustainable.
To achieve this, the fund brings philanthropists, NGOs, and governments together to create a pool of resources that can be directed toward the greatest needs to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases.
Through this work, the Flagship Fund strives to leave no one behind. Regardless of geography, political stability, or the difficulty a person may have in accessing neglected tropical disease programs, everyone everywhere has the right to live free from the burden of these diseases.
THE FLAGSHIP FUND’S Impact
1.6B
treatments delivered
368M
individuals treated
116,700
surgeries performed
4.5M
health workers trained
THE Flagship Fund’s Goals
Make disease elimination a priority
The Flagship Fund is supporting eight countries on the verge of eliminating two NTDs, trachoma and lymphatic filariasis, preventing blindness and disability for generations today and to come.
Use an evidence-based approach to control parasitic infections in children by 2030
Deworming is one of the most cost-effective health and education interventions available. For less than 50 cents per person per year, it improves school attendance by 25% and increases earnings in later life by 13%. We know deworming works.
Prevent avoidable death from visceral leishmaniasis in East Africa
Visceral leishmaniasis is the second deadliest parasitic killer after malaria, and primarily impacts children under 15 years old. The parasite invades the blood, attacking every organ in its path. If left untreated, it leads to death in 95% of patients who have symptoms, but if a person gets treatment in time they have a 98% chance of survival.
Deworming proves successful for boys like Kajogbola
Kajogbola, 14, lives in Irene, Ondo State in southwest Nigeria. While he always looked forward to going to school to learn and be with his friends, the persistent symptoms of schistosomiasis prevented him from attending regularly.
In partnership with the END Fund, organizations like MITOSATH are ensuring critical medicines are administered to those who need them, like Kajogbola.
Now, since taking deworming medication, Kajogbola’s health has improved, and he no longer lives with the symptoms of schistosomiasis. He is back in school, happy to be reunited with his friends, who also received treatment. Now, they are all learning and playing together.
The Opportunity
Neglected tropical diseases are a group of parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases that affect more than 1.6 billion people, including nearly 1 billion children.
Intestinal Worms
A parasitic disease that causes malnutrition, anemia, stunted growth, impaired cognitive function, and reduces long-term economic productivity.
Schistosomiasis
A chronic disease caused by parasitic worms that live in freshwater snails. It contributes to stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, and malnutrition in children.
Lymphatic Filariasis
A mosquito-borne disease that can cause severe disability from swelling of parts of the body.
Trachoma
A bacterial infection of the eye and is the leading cause of blindness worldwide from an infectious disease.
VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS
A parasite that invades the blood, attacking every organ in its path. If left untreated, it leads to death in 95 percent of patients who have symptoms.
WHERE THE FLAGSHIP FUND WORKS
The Flagship Fund supports approximately 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. To determine where to invest resources, it utilizes an analyst tool that uses the following guiding principles to inform funding decisions:
- Supporting countries with a high burden of neglected tropical diseases
- Partnering with countries nearing a significant disease elimination milestone
- Helping countries reach national scale with neglected tropical disease interventions, ensuring all populations in need are reached
- Engaging with fragile & conflict states
- Joining forces with countries with demonstrated strong political will to end neglected tropical diseases
- Leveraging co-funding and/or government support to amplify the impact of each investment
Other Funds
