Three students and one alumna from the Department of Global and Community Health attended the second annual END7 Student Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill on March 1. Erica Street, MPH candidate, Selma Melkich, MPH alumna and policy coordinator at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Hana Hanfi, global and community health major, and Bezawit Teferi, community health major, all participated.
The group, which also included students from 13 other universities, advocated on behalf of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). END7, an international grassroots advocacy campaign run by the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, works to raise awareness and funding to control and eliminate the seven most common NTDs: ascariasis, trichuriasis, hookworm, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, and onchocerciasis. Students from universities across the United States and locally had the opportunity to advocate alongside policy coordinators from Sabin Vaccine Institute.
The group also heard presentations from Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Malaria and NTDs, Barbara Bush, CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corps, and Dr. Peter Hotez, president and director of the Sabin Product Development Partnership. Prior to meetings with congressional offices throughout the day, students were briefed on NTDs by professionals from federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the Global Network.