SCI Foundation statement on the cuts to UK official development assistance

SCI Foundation is concerned about the impending cuts to UK official development assistance, to development and humanitarian aid overall, to global health, and to neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in particular. The UK has traditionally been a leading funder of efforts to tackle NTDs globally – support that has leveraged significant additional public and private sector investment.

SCI Foundation has been working as part of a consortium of partners led by Sightsavers, along with Mott MacDonald and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to deliver Ascend West and Central Africa, a “flagship” NTD programme funded by the FCDO.

The early termination of this programme puts the delivery of treatments against schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths at risk, and a suspension of treatment campaigns may result in the expiry of donated drugs before they can be used.

To avoid such an outcome, SCI Foundation has been working with Ministries of Health, the World Health Organization and other partners to identify critical gaps and mobilise resources, including from our own funding streams where feasible, to support priority treatment needs.

A joint statement by Ascend West and Central Africa partners can be found here.

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