Topics Held the "World NTD Day 2024: The First Neglected Tropical Diseases Student Contest and Online Event
Every year, January 30 is World NTD Day, a day designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to think about neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and connect the world. The Pharmaceutical Association of Japan (PAK) is a co-sponsor of World NTD Day 2024, and the NTD subgroup of the PAK International Committee participated in the planning stage of the event from October 2023 as a member of the "World NTD Day, Japan Executive Committee". This event was the first challenge to appeal the importance of NTDs control to the younger generation by giving shape to students' ideas, while all parties involved in Japan collaborated for the World NTD Day. We hope that this event will help increase understanding and interest in NTDs and provide an opportunity to learn more about the various efforts of pharmaceutical companies.
Scene of the webinar
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
NTDs is the collective name for a group of 21 tropical infectious diseases caused by parasites and bacteria that are prevalent mainly in tropical and subtropical regions and are closely related to poverty. 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.
NTD Day First Neglected Tropical Disease Student Contest
The "First Neglected Tropical Diseases Student Contest" has two categories: A category for students to present NTDs in an easy-to-understand video of 3 minutes or less, and B category for students to submit proposals on issues related to NTDs and what we can do in 1,300 words or less. The entries were open to students from junior high school to graduate school. The NTD sub-group members discussed and selected one of the most appealing entries in accordance with the message, "We want to deliver drugs and thoughts together," which represents the selection criteria for the JAPIA Award.
Student Contest Final Judging (January 27, 2024)
From the 35 teams (79 applicants), the final selection was made by having the applicants present 5 works in the A category and 6 works in the B category that passed the preliminary selection both onsite and online. The presentations from the students ranged from those that were outstanding in their use of YouTube to attract an audience, to presentations that incorporated sign language and research that made use of their experiences visiting developing countries.
The Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Award was presented to a junior high school student from Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School for his presentation, which showed 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 friendly relations in the developing countries in the future. I felt that this could lead to a sense of ownership and friendly relations among developing countries in the future.
World NTD Day Online Event (January 30, 2024)
The event on January 30, 2024 consisted of three parts: a message from Japanese officials on the occasion of NTD Day, the award ceremony of the "First Neglected Tropical Diseases Student Contest," and a question session to learn about NTDs in an easy-to-understand manner from NTDs experts.
Please click here to watch the World NTD Day 2024 webinar video.
JAGNTD website https://jagntd.org/wntdd2024
Message video by Hiroaki Ueno, Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PMAJ)
Hiroaki Ueno, Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PMAJ), sympathized with the event created by the younger generation and delivered a video message at the beginning of the event. Chairman Ueno spoke about the significance of the pharmaceutical industry's contribution to NTDs, the challenges it faces, and his encouragement to the students who will be responsible for the future of the pharmaceutical industry as a key industry in the country.
Please click here to watch the video of Chairman Ueno.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK6j_eLq4Jc
Student Contest 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.
The Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Award was presented to Keika Hirono and Ayaka Miyazaki, third-year students at Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School. Izumi Fujii, a member of the NTD subgroup who served as a judge from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan, commented, "The proposal utilizes Japan's advanced medical technology and shows a great deal of potential. Mr. Hirono, representing the winners, commented, "In the course of my research for this contest, I learned about the disease dengue fever among NTDs, and I remembered how close I was to the horror of dengue fever when I lived overseas. At that time, I couldn't do anything about it, but this time, I think we were able to contribute a little because we sent out our own ideas. I had a lot of fun working with my friends.
Two winners of the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA) Award
Teaching! Dr. Kunii
In a session on NTDs moderated by Osamu Kunii, CEO of the Global Health Technology Foundation, Takayuki Tobidan, a member of the NTD subgroup of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan, answered the question, "What are pharmaceutical companies doing to conquer NTDs? However, pharmaceutical companies do not just ship medicines from their factories and call it a day. He also explained how the company is fulfilling its responsibilities in collaboration with many partners around the world, including educating local medical staff about the disease and the significance of taking the medicines.
Closing Remarks
The first challenge to promote the importance of controlling NTDs to the younger generation by giving shape to the students' ideas was successfully completed, with all parties in Japan working together for the World NTD Day. Normally, there are few direct approaches from the Pharmaceutical Cooperative Association to the student generation, but this method of approaching students, such as explaining the student contest using LINE and applying for the contest, will be helpful for future efforts to reach out to the younger generation regarding infectious disease control. Thank you very much for your support to the Pharmaceutical Cooperative Association.
An overview of this event is also available on the Pharmaceutical Cooperative Association website.
https://www.jpma.or.jp/globalhealth/event/ntd_event.html
( Takayuki Tobidan and Izumi Fujii, NTD Subgroup, Global Health Subcommittee, International Committee)