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Making Progress
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Infectious Diseases and the Millennium Development Goals
In 2000, the Millennium Declaration set forth eight global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that provide a framework for confronting poverty, hunger and environmental
problems, challenging developing countries to improve health, access to education, and
gender equity.1, 2, 4
- MDG 6 focuses on reducing HIV/AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases - by decreasing the incidence of these diseases by 2015.1
- MDG 7 - environmental sustainability - highlights the importance of clean drinking water and improved sanitation in controlling, eliminating and eradicating infectious diseases. Though more than a billion people do not have access to clean water, the world is on track to meet the MDG 7 global target of reducing by half the number of people who do not have access to clean drinking water.2, 3 Progress is unevenly distributed around the world.
- Access to clean water allows people to wash their hands properly to reduce the spread of infectious agents and protects people from potentially fatal diarrheal diseases that can be acquired through ingesting contaminated water.
- Clean water sources also reduce the risk of contracting diseases like guinea worm and onchocerciasis, that are transmitted when people ingest, bathe, do laundry, or are otherwise exposed to infested water sources.
- Reducing illness and death caused by infectious diseases would also benefit efforts in achieving several other MDGs:
- Reducing child mortality due to infectious diseases (MDG 4) and improving the health of mothers, who are disproportionately affected by several tropical diseases (MDG 5).
- Freeing people of the burden of infectious diseases would allow people to lead more economically productive lives, which in turn will reduce poverty and hunger (MDG 1), and afford more children access to education (MDG 2).4
Other Selected Global Goals for Infectious Diseases5-11
| Disease |
Goals |
| Tuberculosis (TB) |
By 2015, reduce the number of people living with and dying from TB
by 50 percent upon from 1990 levels.
By 2050, eradicate TB. |
| Malaria |
By 2010, attain 80 percent coverage for treatment and distribution of
bed nets; reach pregnant women with preventive treatment.
By 2015, reduce morbidity and mortality by 75 percent from
2005 levels. |
| Neglected Diseases: |
By 2020, eliminate the burden of neglected diseases. |
| - Guinea Worm |
By 2009, globally eradicate the disease. |
| - Leprosy |
By 2020, eliminate from the eight countries where it is endemic. |
- Schistosomiasis and
Soil-transmitted
helminthes |
By 2010, regularly treat at least 75 percent of all at-risk school children for these infections. |
| - Onchocerciasis |
By 2020, eliminate from the eight countries where it is endemic. |
| Polio |
Eradication has been the goal of polio campaigns since 1988. |
| Measles |
By 2010, reduce deaths to measles by 90 percent compared to 2000. |
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| 1 |
U.N. Millennium Project. 2005. Combating AIDS in the developing world. Task force on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and Access to Essential Medicines, Working Group on HIV/AIDS. Available from: www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/HIVAIDS-complete.pdf |
| 2 |
UNDP. Goal 7: ensuring environmental sustainability.Millennium Development Goals. (accessed March 3, 2008), Available from: www.undp.org/mdg/goal7.shtml |
| 3 |
World Health Organization. World facing "silent emergency" as billions struggle without clean water or basic sanitation, say WHO and UNICEF. (accessed March 3, 2008), Available from: www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr58/en/ |
| 4 |
Global Network for Neglected Tropical Disease Control. Making a rapid impact on poverty: the case for investing in neglected tropical diseases. (accessed March 13, 2008), Available from: http://globalnetwork.org |
| 5 |
Stop TB Partnership. 2005. The global plan to stop TB 2006-2015. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available from: www.stoptb.org/globalplan/ |
| 6 |
Breman JG, Holloway CN. 2007. Malaria surveillance counts. Am J Trop Med Hyg 77(Suppl 6):36-47. |
| 7 |
Teklehaimanot A, McCord GC, Sachs JD. 2007. Scaling up malaria control in Africa: an economic and epidemiological assessment. Am J Trop Med Hyg 77(Suppl 6):138-44. |
| 8 |
Global Network for Neglected Tropical Disease Control. The mission, vision & goals of the Global Network. (accessed February 21, 2008), Available from: http://globalnetwork.org |
| 9 |
Barry M. 2007. The tail end of guinea worm: global eradication without a drug or vaccine. N Engl J Med 365(25):2561-4. |
| 10 |
World Health Organization. 2006. Neglected tropical diseases: preventive chemotherapy and transmission control. Available from: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2006/WHO_CDS_NTD_2006.3a_eng.pdf |
| 11 |
World Health Organization. 2007. Measles. Fact sheet no 286. Available from: www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/print.html |
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