Published on 4.30.09
People in the bottom billion are the poorest in the world; they are often subsistence farmers, who essentially live on no money and are stuck in a poverty trap of disease, conflict, and no education. One of the most potent reinforcements of the poverty trap is the neglected tropical diseases. Almost everyone in the bottom billion has at least one of these diseases. Several diseases coexist in 56 of 58 countries that are home to the people in the bottom billion. Here we outline low-cost opportunities to control the neglected tropical diseases through preventive chemotherapy, and propose fi nancial innovations to provide poor individuals with essential drugs.
13 parasitic (helminthic and protozoan) and bacterial tropical infections, and dengue are the highest-burden neglected tropical diseases; another 20 include fungal, viral, and ectoparasitic infections. Seven diseases are noteworthy because of their high prevalence and amenability to control. These are the soil-transmitted helminth infections (hookworm, ascariasis, and trichuriasis); lymphatic filariasis; schistosomiasis; and diseases that cause blindness—trachoma and onchocerciasis (river blindness). About 600–800 million people, mostly children, have the soil-transmitted helminth infections. Of these, hookworm infection, which causes childhood and maternal anaemia, results in the greatest disability, and is the highest-burden neglected tropical disease. Among 200 million people with schistosomiasis, adolescents and young adults (15–25 years) have the highest infection intensities, as measured by numbers of eggs in stool or urine, and the most severe adverse effects—anaemia, wasting, and pain. Another 120 million people have lymphatic filariasis; most are adults and have lymphoedema, hydrocele, and disfi guring elephantiasis. Trachoma and onchocerciasis arise in about 84 million and 37 million people, respectively. In addition to these seven diseases, the vector-borne arboviral and protozoan diseases, including dengue, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and human African trypanosomiasis, can result in high mortality in some disadvantaged areas.
Full article attached below.
Attached file: Rescuing the Bottom Billion Through NTD Control
