The Problem: Neglected diseases and why they matter
Over a billion people worldwide experience morbidity and mortality from
conditions for which there are few evidence-based treatments. Neglected
tropical diseases (NTDs) impose a devastating human, social and economic
burden on predominantly impoverished populations, mainly in tropical and
subtropical areas where the most vulnerable, marginalized populations of
the world live.1,2 The World Health Organization (WHO)
definition of NTDs includes the phrase “ancient diseases of poverty”,
which though poetic leaves out emerging infectious threats and diseases
such as malnutrition, intoxications due to poorly regulated industrial
activity (e.g. lead, mercury, pesticides exposures) and many other
conditions (See Table 1) which disproportionately affect the poor and
disenfranchised, and about which too little is known, or done.
Over recent decades, evidence-based medicine has been accepted as the
standard upon which to base high quality treatment guidelines.
Contrasted with this is the problematic reality: we lack the necessary
evidence to know how to use medications properly in large sections of
the population, and we do not have optimal drugs to use in many NTDs.
Moreover, these conditions often disproportionately affect neglected
populations such as children and pregnant women. As reliable access to
safe, effective preventives and treatments can break the cycle of
poverty, illness, and ensuing debility that further perpetuates poverty,
it is of paramount importance to investigate and develop new medicines
for neglected populations suffering from NTDs. Furthermore, there is not
only a need to develop and evaluate novel therapies, but also to ensure
that these are affordable, available, and adapted to the communities who
need them.