Articles about Neglected diseases
In every edition, Global Medicine publishes about a clinical relevant Neglected disease. In this serie we intend to raise more awareness about (forgotten) diseases which kill millions of people around the world. To have your clinical story published in this serie, please contact our editorial team (
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About 1 billion people are affected by one or more neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). They are named neglected because these diseases persist exclusively in the poorest and the most marginalized communities, and have been largely eliminated and thus forgotten in wealthier places. The diseases thrive in places with unsafe water, poor sanitation, and limited access to basic health care. Despite the severe pain and life-long disabilities they cause, these diseases are often less visible and given a low priority alongside high mortality diseases.” (WHO 2008)
Endemic in developing and poor countries, little scientific knowledge & public awareness, and lack of effective and affordable (drug) treatment are characteristics of neglected diseases. Pharmaceutical industry has traditionally ignored these diseases and little research has been performed as a consequence of inadequate scientific infrastructure and low, if any, foreseen profit from drug sales.
Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS have received an increasing amount of public and scientific attention in the past decades. This has resulted in better understanding of the diseases, improved opportunities for prevention, diagnostics and treatment, and a wide range of prevention and awareness campaigns in endemic countries in the South, as well as in Western societies. Yet, other diseases are still being ignored. Not just by the pharmaceutical industry and researchers, but also by public-private partnerships, health care professionals and medical education.
At least one billion people (one sixth of the world's population) suffer from one or more neglected tropical diseases. NTDs cause 500,000 to 1 million deaths annually and have a huge social and economic impact on the lives of those infected. Most of the NTDs can be prevented, eliminated or even eradicated with effective and inexpensive interventions.
The World Health Organization listed the 14 most neglected of all:
- Buruli ulcer
- Chagas disease
- Cholera/epidemic diarrhoeal diseases
- Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever
- Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm)
- Endemic treponematoses (yaws, pinta, endemic syphilis)
- Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
- Leishmaniasis
- Leprosy
- Lymphatic filariasis
- Onchocerciais
- Schistosomiasis
- Soil-transmitted helminthiasis
- Trachoma
Previous publications
Further reading
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The Global Health Council's policy brief on Neglected Tropical Diseases
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The World Health Organization's Neglected Tropical Diseases brochure
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GM & Neglected diseases
