What We Do
Why focus on eliminating and eradicating disease?
Disease elimination and eradication are the ultimate goals of public health and the culmination of the disease control process. Only two diseases have been declared eradicated by the World Health Organization to date: one human disease – smallpox, and one animal disease – rinderpest, which was a deadly disease that affected herds of cattle.
Infectious diseases play a debilitating role in millions of people’s lives, impacting children’s ability to go to school and their families’ ability to work, thereby limiting the growth of local and regional economies. Eliminating and eradicating these ancient diseases of poverty would have a truly life-changing impact on the lives of people in nearly 100 countries and boost global economic prospects. Simply put, disease elimination and eradication would rank among the greatest human achievements.
Areas of Focus
Disease Elimination and Eradication
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
Lymphatic Filariasis
Onchocerciasis
How We Work
Build on country ownership and local solutions
GLIDE is grounded in country realities and respect for the local context, capacities, knowledge, and leadership. It aims to amplify lessons learned from the countries with which it engages, and takes a panoramic view to help countries share experiences, coordinate, and learn across contexts to accelerate progress towards elimination goals.
Promote integrated and health systems approaches
We believe that sustainable solutions require strong partnerships across public, private, international, and domestic actors focusing on cross-border, cross-sectoral, and cross-disease action. GLIDE will work through existing health systems rather than duplicating them, creating silos, and taking or diverting resources from existing programmes.
Sustain Progress
GLIDE is not about “quick fixes.” We seek results that build on past progress and can be sustained for the long-term.
Engage catalytically
GLIDE seeks to invest strategically, seizing opportunities and bridging gaps by accelerating thinking and action to help achieve elimination targets. GLIDE will guard against top-down development and support coordinated efforts.