Report on the Japan Event on "World NTD Day 2024

JPMA has co-sponsored the World NTD Day 2024. In addition, the NTD Subgroup of the JPMA International Affairs Committee participated in the final judging of the "First Neglected Tropical Diseases Student Contest" on January 28, 2024 and the World NTD Day Online Event on January 30, 2024 as a member of the "World NTD Day, Japan Executive Committee".

Photos from the webinar

Every year, January 30 is the World Health Organization's (WHO) World Day of Neglected Tropical Diseases (World NTD Day), a day to bring the world together in remembrance of neglected tropical diseases. The theme of World NTD Day announced by WHO this year was "Unite. Act. Eliminate. JPMA's NTD subgroup has participated in the planning stage of the event by "Unite" with Japanese NTD stakeholders.
This year's NTD Day event in Japan was planned by the students themselves, led by the NTDs Youth Group consisting of university students, and "Act" was created by Japanese NTD professionals who are usually involved in NTD work, bringing their expertise and support.

For the student contest held in preparation for NTD Day, we set up two categories: A category to present NTDs in an easy-to-understand manner in a video of 3 minutes or less, and B category to propose NTDs issues and what we can do in a total of 1,300 characters or less. This was a unique idea that could only be realized by students. The JPMA also co-sponsored this first attempt, and in accordance with the message of the JPMA award selection criteria, "We want to deliver drugs and thoughts together," the NTD subgroup members discussed and selected one of the most appealing entries.

Student Contest Final Judging

The final selection was made by having the applicants present their presentations, both onsite and online, on the five works in Category A and six works in Category B that passed the preliminary selection from among the 35 teams (79 applicants). The presentations by the students ranged from those that used YouTube to attract viewers to those that incorporated sign language to those that made use of their experiences of visiting developing countries.

The Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Award went to a junior high school student from Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School. From their presentations, we sensed the possibility that Japan's advanced medical technology could not only help developing countries develop human resources and improve social infrastructure such as health, sanitation, and education, but also lead to ownership and the building of friendly relationships in developing countries in the future.

Final judging of the student contest

Scene of the final judging (judges' professors)

World NTD Day Online Event (January 30)

On January 30, 2024, the event consisted of three parts: a message from Japanese officials on the occasion of NTD Day, the award ceremony for the first Neglected Tropical Diseases Student Contest, and a question-and-answer session to learn about NTDs from NTD experts in an easy-to-understand format.

Click here to watch the World NTD Day 2024 webinar video.

Award Ceremony

The Grand Prize (A and B categories), U-18 Special Prize (A and B categories), Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Award, and GHIT Award were announced, and the winners gave their comments.

Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Award Winners
Mr. Hirono Mr. Miyazaki Ms. Kawasaki 3rd grade, Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School

In doing research for this contest, I learned about the disease dengue fever among the NTDs and remembered that the horror of dengue was very close to me when I lived abroad and that I could do nothing about it at that time. This time, we sent out our own ideas, so we were able to contribute in some small way, and it was a lot of fun working with my friends," commented Mr. Hirono.

JPMA Award Ceremony (Mr. Hirono, representative of the winner, and Mr. Fujii, Astellas Pharma Inc.)

Teach us, Dr. Kunii

The session was moderated by Mr. Kunii, CEO of GHIT Fund, who is active in the world of global health, and experts explained the NTD and answered JPMA's questions about the "efforts of pharmaceutical companies" to "Eliminate" the NTD. Pharmaceutical companies around the world provide medicines free of charge to "Eliminate" NTDs, but they do not stop at the factory; they also deliver medicines to remote areas in low-income countries where people in need live, and educate local medical staff to educate the target population about the disease and the significance of taking the medicines. The presentation also included a description of the local situation and how the company is fulfilling its responsibilities in collaboration with its many partners around the world, including educating local medical staff about diseases and the significance of taking medicines.

Explanation of a Pharmaceutical Company’s Initiatives (Mr. Hida, Eisai)

In Conclusion

This first-of-its-kind initiative—in which stakeholders in Japan collaborated leading up to World NTD Day to bring students’ ideas to life and raise awareness among the younger generation about the importance of eliminating NTDs—began last October and concluded successfully.

The NTD Youth Association, GHIT Fund, DNDi Japan, and SDGs Promise Japan—all of which collaborated for this event—have also posted updates on World NTD Day. Additionally, an article from *with Planet* has been published. Please refer to the linked articles from each organization.

Asahi Shimbun with Planet;
“Raising Awareness of Neglected Tropical Diseases: Students Make Their Case in First-Ever NTDs Contest”

NTD Youth Association;
report - Contest - Our project | NTDs Youth Association (ntds-youth-japan.org)

GHIT Fund;　
Events | GHIT Fund | Public Interest Incorporated Association Global Health Innovative Technology Fund | Global Health Innovative Technology Fund

DNDi Japan;
We Participated in the 2024 World NTD Day Webinar | DNDi Japan

SDGs Promise Japan;
Blog | SDGs Promise Japan, a Specified Nonprofit Corporation (sdgspromise.org) 　

TOP