COR-NTD funding opportunities

COR-NTD is the Coalition for Operational Research on NTDs, one of the programs of the Task Force for Global Health. This year COR-NTD has decided to host regional events instead of its usual large annual event in the USA. The first of these, in April 2024, was in Delhi, co-hosted by the WHO South East Asia region. There are plans for events in the WHO Western Pacific region in September and the WHO Africa region possibly in December.

Integrated surveillance

The main theme of the Delhi meeting was opportunities for integrated NTD surveillance, specifically including leprosy, both before and after interruption of transmission has been verified. Several presenters commented that in the South East Asia region there are several disease surveillance processes, including in TB, malaria and other vector-borne diseases. The idea is not to take a prescriptive approach but to find sustainable surveillance models into which leprosy and other skin NTDs can be integrated. The benefits of integrated surveillance seem clear: it is effective in reaching multiple diseases, it is efficient in terms of time and money, and it is better for community members because of attention to multiple diseases at the same time. But presenters also highlighted various challenges to integrated surveillance: the additional logistical work required; the need for a ‘win’ for all the diseases involved; financial constraints and the need to build agreement with multiple donors; the need for the selected approach to be sustainable over several years; and the reality that NTDs may need to compromise their expectations in order to gain access to existing surveillance programs.

COR-NTD funding

Although COR-NTD’s main priorities have been diseases other than leprosy, Pat Lammie (COR-NTD President) said that he expects leprosy to be more of a focus in 2024 and beyond. Partly this reflects an ongoing trend in the approach of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). COR-NTD has been awarded a new cooperative agreement with USAID entitled Ending Neglected Diseases through the Operational Research Program. To illustrate, Dr Lammie commented on USAID’s offer of funds to WHO regional offices to come up with new initiatives across any of the NTDs; on USAID’s increasing interest in skin NTDs; and on the availability of funding for diagnostics and morbidity management, both highly relevant for leprosy.

Operational research into integrated surveillance

Pat Lammie and other senior COR-NTD personnel made it clear that research into how leprosy and other NTDs can be integrated into existing surveillance systems is a fruitful topic for their operational research funding. The preference is for multi-country studies, though COR-NTD would consider a clear justification for why a country’s uniqueness may lead to the need for single-country research. Research also needs to be actionable, or solution oriented. For example, COR-NTD would like to see operational research that tests the efficacy of different NTD integration approaches in different settings.

We recommend that Members continue to check the COR-NTD website for any upcoming calls for open solicitations: https://www.cor-ntd.org/funding-opportunities.