Giving Compass' Take:

• Open Philanthropy Project discusses the impact that sexually transmitted diseases besides HIV have on global health and wonders why more private donors don't do more to finance research.

• HIV/AIDS seems to get a lion's share of funding, but we can't ignore other STDs, especially the wide spread of human papillomavirus, even if funding isn't as high profile. In fact, the models for investments may be similar.

• Here's how women's health advocates are pushing for an end to cervical cancer.

Hundreds of millions of people are infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and more than a hundred thousand deaths due to STDs other than HIV each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study estimated that STDs other than HIV and HPV are responsible for approximately 9-13 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per year. Based on their impact and the availability of treatments and preventative measures, we chose three diseases to investigate in more detail: herpes simplex virus (HSV), syphilis, and human papillomavirus (HPV). The GBD estimated the burden of HSV at approximately 300k DALYs per year, but this estimate does not include the burden of some additional conditions caused by HSV. We briefly looked at the burden of these conditions and concluded that the true burden may be somewhat or substantially larger.

It’s our impression that there is relatively little nonprofit involvement in and private funding for STD research and development. The NIH contributed approximately $250 million in funding to support STD research in 2015 (funding for HIV and HPV research and development categorized separately from the $250 million figure). Grantome searches suggest NIH and NSF funding of approximately $100 million, $150 million, and $20 million in funding for HSV, HPV, and syphilis research in 2013, respectively.

Our investigation so far has focused almost exclusively on the burden of these diseases and how much attention they receive from funders of scientific research. If we were to do further research here, our primary focus would be on the tractability of potential research directions.

Some questions we might aim to address include:

 

What are the greatest barriers to STD diagnosis? Would improved diagnostics for STD infections lead to higher rates of treatment and cure?

 

What are the greatest barriers to the development of new vaccines for STDs, including syphilis?
Would it be practical to deliver a syphilis vaccine to the required population?

 

How do HPV vaccines affect the prevalence and transmission of HPV strains against which they do not confer immunity? How is this likely to impact the future burden of HPV?

 

To what extent do STDs increase HIV transmission? To what extent do STD treatments and vaccines reduce HIV transmission, if at all?

 

What could other research and development projects potentially decrease the burden of STDs?

We do not have a comprehensive understanding of which organizations fund research on STDs, as opposed to raising awareness, offering services, or advocating on behalf of individuals that suffer from STDs. However, it’s our understanding that philanthropic and nonprofit involvement in STD research is minimal. We are not aware of nonprofit organizations specifically supporting HSV or syphilis research.

Read the full article about research on sexually transmitted diseases at Open Philanthropy Project.