The Second Neglected Tropical Disease Contest
January 30 is the World Health Organization's (WHO) World NTD Day. It is a day to think about Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and connect the world. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PAL) is a co-sponsor of World NTD Day 2025, and the NTD Subgroup of the Global Health Subcommittee of the International Committee participated in the 2nd Neglected Tropical Diseases Contest, one of the World NTD Day events, as a member of the World NTD Day Japan Executive Committee. The purpose of this contest was to promote the importance of NTDs control to the younger generation through students' ideas. We hope that the contest will help increase understanding and interest in NTDs and provide an opportunity to learn about the various efforts of pharmaceutical companies.
About Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
NTDs is a generic name for a group of diseases closely related to poverty, mainly 21 tropical infectious diseases caused by parasites and bacteria that are prevalent mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. They are called "neglected tropical diseases" because they have not been considered major diseases by developed countries. They affect one in five people worldwide, or more than 1.6 billion people.
Second Annual Neglected Tropical Disease Contest
In the "Second Neglected Tropical Disease Contest," two categories were held: Category A, "Communicate in an easy-to-understand way - Do you know what NTDs are? 〜and "Think about what Japan can do to control NTDs" in category B. Entries were freely submitted by students from junior high school to graduate school. Students expressed many flexible and unique ideas, and the NTD subgroup selected one of the entries as the winner of the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA) Award based on the message, "Together we want to deliver drugs and thoughts," which represented the selection criteria.
Contest Final Judging (January 11, 2025)
The preliminary screening was conducted by the participating organizations of the "World NTD Day Japan Executive Committee. The final selection was made after a Q&A session with the judges and presentations onsite or online. The works in Category A ranged in style from videos in which the entrants themselves appeared on screen to videos that used AI to accurately convey the difficult issue of NTDs in an easy-to-understand manner. In the B category, there were works of high quality and conviction, such as a proposal for a concrete and feasible approach to the control of NTDs, which was made possible by the fact that Japan was the first country in the world to control lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis, and a work that tackled the major issue of "prejudice" and "lack of understanding" regarding NTDs.
Contest Finalists
Final judging presentation by the winners of the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Award
World NTD Day" Online Event (January 30, 2025)
On January 30 of this year, World NTD Day, the Japan Executive Committee hosted the "2025 World NTD Day Webinar" with the aim of deepening understanding of NTDs and promoting action to control them. The event featured messages from Mr. Osamu Kunii, CEO of the Global Health Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), Mr. Junichi Takahashi, Director, International Health and Cooperation Office, International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, the award ceremony for the Second Annual Neglected Tropical Diseases Contest, a special panel discussion on skin-related neglected tropical diseases (Skin NTDs) The three-part event consisted of a special panel discussion on the theme of "Skin NTDs.
Please click here to watch the World NTD Day 2025 webinar video.
Japan Alliance for Neglected Tropical Diseases (JAGntd) website https://youtu.be/kIcagR9Rx1s?si=ia80Sg5IUSBm_heB
Second Neglected Tropical Disease Contest Awards Ceremony
The Grand Prize (A and B categories), U-18 Special Prize (A and B categories), Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Prize, and GHIT Prize were awarded, and the winners gave their comments.
The JIPA Award was presented to the Music Video "Neglection Toward Distance. This work conveys the heavy theme of NTDs by incorporating it into a very easy-to-understand key message, and is expected to contribute to raising awareness of NTDs.
Comments from the Award Winners
I had never heard of NTDs until I entered the contest, and as I researched NTDs, I was surprised to learn that there are many diseases, and the symptoms of the diseases sometimes scared me. Knowing that there are so many people in Japan who are suffering from these diseases that can be cured with easily available medicines, I realized that it is not a matter of course that I can be healthy. I made the video because I wanted many people to know about the word NTDs and the people suffering in the world.
At the award ceremony, NTD sub-group member Miwa Kando, who served as a judge, commented, "This work utilizes AI to introduce the 21 diseases of NTDs in an expressive and accurate manner. I believe that the video impresses the seriousness of NTDs with ideas that did not come from the generation that participated in the screening process at the Pharmaceutical Cooperative Association. It is a unique and new idea, and I think it is a work that will make us want to expand NTDs not only in Japan but also globally." The judges gave the following comments: "I think this is a unique and new idea.
In closing
Following the 2024 event, the attempt to emphasize the importance of conquering NTDs by giving shape to the students' ideas was a success, with stakeholders in Japan working together for the World NTD Day. We hope that as many people as possible will learn about NTDs through this activity. The NTDs Youth Association, which was responsible for the planning and operation of the event, the Global Health Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, the Japan Alliance for Neglected Tropical Diseases (JAGntd), and the non-profit organization, SDGs Promise Japan (SPJ), which acted as a component organization as did the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Inc. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Promise Japan (SPJ), a non-profit organization.
(Miwa Kando, Global Health Subcommittee, International Committee)