How many neglected tropical diseases are there

Collectively, U. Having scaled up from five countries in , it now spans 26 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, and has one regional program, which reaches an additional six countries in the Americas. Using interventions such as the rapid-impact package, the USG supports endemic countries in scaling up MDA and developing their capacity to manage NTD control programs.

Total U. Figure 1: U. Over the past decade, U. Today, U. NTD efforts are an important part of the U. Looking ahead, there are several issues and challenges facing U. NTD efforts, starting with questions about the extent to which the current Administration will continue to support ongoing efforts, particularly in light of FY budget proposal to significantly reduce NTD funding, but also including:. Peter Hotez, et al. For example, young children are the principal reservoir of trachoma infection, and due to the role of women as caretakers of children, there is an increased likelihood of being infected with trachoma multiple times.

Women are up to 4 times more likely to be blinded by trachoma than men. Other USG efforts may reach additional countries. Per Jesse L. The goal for Priority Review applications for products that offer major advances in treatment, or provide a treatment when no adequate therapy exists, is to complete them within a six-month period, compared to the month goal for standard review of other products. If transferred to apply to a blockbuster drug, the four months of earlier market access available when a Priority Review voucher is redeemed could, in some circumstances, be very valuable.

Dengue and Chikungunya. Elephantiasis lymphatic filariasis. Foodborne trematodiases. Guinea worm disease. Intestinal worms soil-transmitted helminths. River blindness onchocerciasis. Sleeping sickness. Snakebite envenoming. Taeniasis and cysticercosis. Visceral leishmaniasis. The five interventions recommended by WHO to combat NTDs are: Preventive chemotherapy and transmission control PCT : This intervention focuses on the availability of safe and effective drugs, which make it feasible to implement large-scale preventive chemotherapy.

Today, we have safe, effective treatments and control methods to fight some NTDs. The challenge is reaching poor and hard-to-reach communities where people have little access to health care and recent successful efforts give us hope that strategic, innovative, collaborative, and sustained action can control, eliminate, or even eradicate some of the these diseases. In , cases of dracunculiasis Guinea worm disease fell to a historic low of 22, contained in just four countries.

While million people are infected with mosquito-borne lymphatic filariasis elephantiasis , more than 5 billion treatments have been delivered since The progress against lymphatic filariasis came as a result of a global alliance that delivered drugs donated by Merck, Eisai, and GlaxoSmithKline.

Despite limited economic incentives, those pharmaceutical companies have increased their donations and supported research and development on NTDs.

Growing resolve within the public and private sectors can accelerate progress even further. In January , the foundation; 13 pharmaceutical companies; the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates; the World Bank; and other global health organizations signed the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases, launching a global push to control, eliminate, or eradicate 10 NTDs by the end of the decade.

This has since shaped the framework for our strategy to fight NTDs. Our work. Neglected Tropical Diseases Our goal. At a glance. Neglected tropical diseases NTDs affect 1 billion people worldwide, and the poorest and most vulnerable communities suffer the most. While effective treatment and control methods are available, more investments are needed in drug delivery and diagnostic tools that will improve disease mapping and surveillance.

We work with our partners to develop and deliver new tools to address tropical diseases affecting neglected populations. We focus on diseases that present the greatest opportunity for elimination or eradication, and we make use of donated drugs. We also accelerate progress by supporting public-health surveillance, vector control, and mass administration of drugs against multiple diseases.

Our strategy Battling NTDs is a priority for our foundation, and we make sure our investments complement the work of donor governments and developing countries, which provide most of the funding to combat these diseases. Areas of focus High-opportunity targets. Integrated efforts. We focus on three main areas: Mass drug administration. We support coordinated efforts in areas with a prevalence of several infectious diseases that can be treated with the same drugs or a similar schedule of treatments.

This includes obtaining donations to support large-scale drug administration programs.