UNDP : improving the human condition / by Timothy Rothermel

@ i Q) c 0 :;:1 l E 8 .s 0 .1: Q. 0 ~ .ill ] ~ ~ z ~ :i c.: Getting wet pany without walls," the development process is taken in hand by a product developer, employed by TOR to work with pharmaceutical companies and university research groups in identi- fying promising new compounds and screening them for anti-disease activity. The leading candidate compounds are then submitted to the next stages in the drug development process. - Vaccines are needed. As disease control tools, they can be decisive (witness the eradication of smallpox and the virtual disappearance of polio- myelitis in the Americas). Basic bio- medical research - including the cloning of about 100 parasite genes - has produced an array of "candidate" vaccine molecules. Several possible molecules are being studied for malaria and schistosomiasis vaccines. Meanwhile, traditional (killed whole parasite) vaccines are being tested in human subjects for protection against leprosy and leishmaniasis. But overall, vaccine work is in its early stages. These age-old parasites have had time to learn how to evade the human immune system, and the task is prov- ing harder than was first thought. For some of the tropical diseases, like African trypanosomiasis , Chagas disease and filariasis, a vaccine is still a fond dream. But the battle is on and science has taken up the challenge. Back to the river. Thanks to scienti- fic research, we know much more about what's doing the damage and how. We've also found a few ways of putting a stop to it. A crucial task now is to find ways of putting these results to good use. But to do that, we may all have to get a bit wetter. • 6 UNDP: improving the human condition by Timothy Rothermel Director, Division for Global and lnterregional Programmes, UNDP, New York T he United Nations Development Pro-gramme, UNDP, bases its longstanding commit-ment to improving health in the developing countries on solid economic grounds, as well as a concern for improving the quality of human life. As the world's lar- gest provider of grant technical co-operation, UNDP receives nearly US $1,300 million per year in volun- tary contributions. Through a network of offices in 112 developing countries, and in cooperation with over 30 international and regional agencies, it works with 152 governments to pro- mote higher standards of living and economic growth. Over the past two decades, UNDP's Global Programme has supported worldwide collaborative research and disseminated the results through training, institutional strengthening and Clean water on tap in a Himalayan village. UNDP helps countries to achieve a healthier environment. demonstration activities. It is through the Global Programme that the UNDP Governing Council has endorsed support for TOR since its inception. Why should an organization like UNDP, whose work is mostly directed at country-specific activities, attach impor- tance to research and training in tropical diseases? Or for that matter, to research and training in other fields of health, such as water supply and sanitation or agriculture? The short answer is that, while it is essential for development activities to be under- taken on a country-by-country basis, UNDP recognises that such efforts must also be accompanied by a search for new knowledge and for approaches which strike at both the symptoms and causes of under-development. Many problems that are commonly found in developing countries can most effectively be approached within a global framework of cooperation that permits an exchange of knowledge and experience. The process of search- ing for new knowledge and disseminat- ing it has enabled developing countries - in many cases on their own - to help resolve problems which have histori- cally plagued humankind. While sometimes the process of seeking new knowledge falls short of expectations, many positive results are being achieved. Farmers will be returning to the fertile Volta River basin, no longer fearing the scourge of river blindness. New approaches to malaria and leprosy control, the bio- logical control of vectors, and efforts to strengthen research capacity in developing countries are but a few of the achievements of TOR. Additional areas where UNDP is privileged to be a partner in improving the human condi- tion include the tripling of cassava yields, the introduction of highly nutri- tious quality protein maize, and improved technologies and approaches to serving the unserved with clean water, sanitation and a healthier environment. • WORLD HEALTH. June-July -August 1990