USAID’s Neglected Tropical Diseases Division is pleased to announce the ‘Ending Tropical Diseases through Operational Research’ (ENDOR) award. This cooperative agreement has been awarded to the Task Force for Global Health (TFGH) with a $45 million ceiling. TFGH will partner with the African Research Network for NTDs (ARNTD) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana as a major sub-partner in implementing the objectives of ENDOR. ENDOR builds on the successes that have been achieved through previous USAID investments to expand and strengthen national, integrated NTD programs to achieve the goals outlined in the WHO 2030 NTD Roadmap. This five-year award is intended to provide support to national governments, local research institutions and NGOs, implementing partners, and NTD diagnostic developers to address operational challenges, improved NTD diagnostics, and other programmatic challenges through an operational research (OR) portfolio.
This award will largely support countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but ENDOR will be global in scope and will provide research opportunities for all national programs targeting the five diseases currently supported by USAID: lymphatic filariasis, blinding trachoma, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and three forms of intestinal worms (known collectively as soil-transmitted helminths), as well as continue USAID’s historical investments for improved NTD diagnostics, and contribute to the global WHO evidence base in line with the WHO NTD 2030 Roadmap.