Way forward to fighting neglected tropical diseases for better nutrition in India

There is a strong and direct relationship between undernutrition and the disease caused by infectious organisms. It is a vicious cycle where malnutrition makes a person more susceptible to infection, and infection contributes to malnutrition. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a formidable group of 20 conditions that are mainly prevalent in tropical areas and affect nearly 1.7 billion people worldwide. NTDs such as Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH), Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) and Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) are common in India and have been proven to be silent killers– not just through their mortality rates, but also through their debilitating impact on the victim’s health and nutrition status, abilities to receive proper education and earn a respectable livelihood. 1 in 5 children in developing countries is underweight and NTDs only serve to exacerbate the risks of malnourishment, particularly in marginalised communities. Thus, the fight against NTDs is also important for child nutrition, growth, and development. Mass Drug Administration (MDA) has been acknowledged as one of the most effective ways to address NTDs. Apart from preventing NTDs, MDA drugs also have additional benefits such as deworming which increases nutrition uptake in children and helps in their physical and cognitive development. Studies have shown that children who were dewormed at an early age gained more weight, grew taller, displayed improved appetite, and even showed improved motor and language development skills. Deworming has also demonstrated remarkable results in adults, especially in women of child-bearing age and pregnant women. The fight against NTDs would contribute significantly to improving nutrition outcomes, which is why the 10th of February will see the grand launch of the first phase of the Bi-annual, Pan-India Mass Drug Administration (MDA) Campaign by the Government of India in mission mode along with National Deworming Day– with the objective to bring unprecedented focus and mass visibility towards improving community compliance to drugs preventing NTDs.  It emphasizes the importance of nutrition and deworming towards preventing and treating NTDs that lead to perpetual cycle of malnutrition and poverty. Since, NTDs and malnutrition are intrinsically linked and as India gears up to completely eliminate NTDs such as Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) by 2030, the timing is apposite to resonate this aim with the Sustainable Development Goal 2 which envisages to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition, also by the year 2030. Some relevant materials on addressing NTDs, LF and deworming practices in India are available in the resources section. We hope this serves to inform the nutrition community on working to address all causes of malnutrition towards improved well-being for women and children.