News and events

2023

14 May 2023: Apply to our New NTD Award! The Deadline has now been extended to May 14th at 12:00 am. This research award will recognize one outstanding NTD paper published in 2022 by any researcher or research team based at a Canadian academic or research institution. For more information, please review the full description of the award, and to apply, please go to the application form.

22-24 March 2023: The Canadian Network for NTDs attended the UN Water Conference at the UN Head Quarters in New York. Follow this link for reflections on this historic conference and what its potential contributions towards NTD elimination strategies.

10 February 2023: The Canadian Network for NTDs and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) partnered to host a webinar titled Research and Action to End Neglected Tropical Diseases. Here is the recording of this webinar.

31 January 2022: The Canadian Network for NTDs hosted its Steering Committee in Ottawa for a full-day Strategic Planning Session. Our new Strategic Framework will be posted soon.

30 January 2023: We always like to start each year BIG, with activities and events leading up to and on World NTD Day on January 30th! To learn more, please see our World NTD Day and International Development Week Webpage.

2022

7 October 2022: The Canadian Network for NTDs made a Pre-Budget Consultative submission to FINA ahead of the 2023 Federal Budget. This written submission followed an open virtual consultation on September 12, 2022. You can find our final Pre-Budget Consultation submission here.

17 August 2022: The Canadian Network for NTDs and WaterAid Canada have written a joint statement for World Water Week 2022 (August 23 – September 1), highlighting the critical role played by access to clean water and sanitation in the prevention and treatment of NTDs, and ensuring health for all by 2030. Please find the joint statement here. If you are a Canadian Civil Society Organization that would like to endorse this statement by August 23, 2022, you can do so here.

8 July 2022: Article following the Kigali Summit and Canadian Endorsement of the Kigali Declaration by Geoffrey P. Johnston Africa Leads Neglected Tropical Diseases Fight in the Kingston Whig Standard.

23 June 2022: The Kigali Summit for Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases was held in Kigali, Rwanda, raising more than US$4.4 billon, with US$2.2 billion in domestic funding commitments to end malaria and NTDs by 2030. Of this, the Kigali Declaration for NTDs secured substantial commitments by donor and endemic country governments, pharmaceutical companies, philanthropy, and others that include over US $1.4 billion in financial commitments, 18 billion tablets donated by 9 industry partners and US $562 million in other health products. Here is a link to this day-long Kigali Summit event with artistic performances and incredible key-note speakers! Here is the Canadian Endorsement of the Kigali Declaration by the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, marking an historic moment for Canadian engagement in the global NTD movement!

22 June 2022: The Canadian Network for NTDs EIN Presswire Press Release: Global Affairs Canada to Make an Historic Announcement at the Kigali Summit for Malaria & Neglected Tropical Diseases

26 May 2022: The Canadian Network hosted a Students and Young Professionals NTD event: Effectively integrating NTDs into Global Health Strategies. Speakers included Kiera Liblik, Alistair Mukondiwa, Shomy Hasan Chowdhury, & moderated by Afzaa Rajabali. To learn more and to view the recording of this event, please click here.

11 February 2022: We teamed up with CAGH-ACSM to co-host an event titled Addressing NTDs for the Health of Women and Girls. This event highlighted the new WHO global policy guidelines on Deworming for Adolescent Girls and Women of Reproductive Age. You can find the recording of this event here.

3 February 2022: Article following World NTD Day by Geoffrey P. Johnston Neglected Diseases Pose Global Threat in the Kingston Whig Standard.

30 January 2022: The third annual World NTD Day was celebrated across Canada and globally with high levels of media and social network engagement. Here in Canada, we illuminated the CN and Calgary Towers and Niagara Falls. Please take a look at this brilliant video of illuminations for World NTD Day. More than 100 monuments were illuminated orange and purple to remind us of the WHO NTD Road Map goal of eliminating at least 1 NTD in 100 countries by 2030.

2021

25 November 2021: The Canadian Network for NTDs supported the coordination of a plenary at the Canadian Conference on Global Health titled “Water, worms and women’s health: intersecting partnerships in planetary health”. This event was moderated by Maximillian Seunik, with Margaret Gyapong, Hélène Carabin & Pamela Sabina Mbabazi as panelists.

4 November 2021: Check out the recording of an event the Canadian Network for NTDs hosted titled Exploring the Nexus of Equity, Poverty and NTDS. This event included presentations from Dr. Momar Ndao, Dr. Emily Jenkins, Dr. Marion Roche, Dr. Theresa Gyorkos, & Guillermo Robert De Arquer. We also introduced our new Student and Young Professional Ambassador for NTDs, Maëla Séguin!

25 August 2021: Read this opinion piece published in the Hill Times by The Chair of the Canadian Network for NTDs, Dr. Alison Krentel, on why Canada should invest in the prevention & treatment of NTDs globally.

3 August 2021: Want to contribute to the global NTD movement? Help us shape the Kigali Declaration for NTDs! Feedback is due on August 31st.

23 April 2021: CNNTD hosted a roundtable at the Senate of Canada on ‘Neglected tropical diseases: the missing piece for better health’. Speakers included:

  • Dr. Mwele Malecela, Director, Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization
  • William Campbell, Board Chair, The END Fund
  • Dr. Georg Kippels, Member of the German Bundestag, Chair of the German Parliamentary Council Against NTDs
  • Dr. Alison Krentel, Investigator at Bruyère Research Institute

30 January 2021: The second annual World NTD Day was celebrated across Canada with high levels of media and social network engagement. The CN Tower and Calgary Tower lit up to highlight people affected by NTDs.

28 January 2021: Karina Gould, Minister for International Development, and CNNTD participated in the virtual launch of the WHO road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021-2030.

2020

15 – 19 November 2020: CNNTD members participate in 69th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

12 – 14 November 2020: Karlee Silver, Co-CEO of Grand Challenges Canada, and Alison Krentel provide comments at the open and closing plenaries to the Coalition for Operational Research on NTDs (COR-NTD).

4-6 November 2020: Dr. Theresa Gyorkos participated in WHO Scientific and Technical Advisory Group’s Working Group on Monitoring and Evaluation for Neglected Tropical Diseases.

28 – 29 October 2020: Dr. Theresa Gyorkos participated in the soil-transmitted helminthiases advisory council annual meeting.

7 August 2020: CNNTD submits a brief to the Standing Committee on Finance for Canada to invest in the elimination and control of NTDs.

29 July 2020: Canadians Alison Krentel and Priscilla Pangan participated in WHO webinar on how youth can contribute to achieving the NTD control and elimination targets.

25 June 2020: Parliamentary Secretary Kamal Khera MP participated in the ‘Power the Partnership: End the Neglect’ global virtual event celebrating the achievements in eliminating NTDs since 2012.

4 February 2020: CNNTD participated in “Go For The Gals” as part of International Development Week.

31 January 2020: Member of Parliament Scott Simms made a one-minute statement in the House of Commons in support of World NTD Day acknowledging Canadians who make an impact in the control of NTDs globally.

30 January 2020: The first annual World NTD Day was celebrated with a month-long social media campaign on #CanadiansEndingNeglect.

2019

20 – 24 November 2019: Members of CNNTD presented research at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

17 – 19 October 2019: CNNTD sponsored two sessions at the Canadian Conference for Global Health in Ottawa, Ontario. The theme of the conference was “Governance for Global Health: Power, politics and justice.”

3 – 6 June 2019: CNNTD participated in the Women Deliver 2019 Conference in Vancouver. Highlights included a Pub Quiz on NTDs and a panel discussion on NTDs, featuring the First Lady of Burkina Faso, the Minister of Health for Uganda and the Director, Control of NTDs at WHO.

21 February 2019: Learning event on NTDs at Global Affairs Canada. Speakers included:

  • Dr. Dirk Engels, Former Director for the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization
  • Fernando Lavadenz, Senior Health Specialist at The World Bank
  • Dr. Alison Krentel, Investigator at Bruyère Research Institute

20 February 2019: A Parliamentary Reception was co-hosted by CNNTD and the Multi-Party Global Health Caucus on HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria of the Parliament of Canada. The reception featured presentations by:

  • Dr. Dirk Engels, Former Director for the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization
  • Dr. Theresa Gyorkos, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Parasite Epidemiology and Control
  • Dr. Alison Krentel, Investigator at Bruyère Research Institute

2018

21 November 2018: The Canadian Conference on Global Health included a panel discussion on “Eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): The intersection of poverty reduction, equity and improved health for the most marginalized in the world”.

12 October 2018: Fifty-seven member nations of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie adopted the proposed resolution on neglected tropical diseases. Read the text of the resolution.