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How to Cure 1 Billion People? Defeat Neglected Tropical Diseases

Sabin President Dr. Peter Hotez details how 1 billion individuals suffering from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) can be easily treated in “How to Cure 1 Billion People?—Defeat Neglected Tropical Diseases” released today in the January 2010 issue of Scientific American.

Key Concepts discussed in the article include:

  • A group of seven tropical diseases, mostly caused by parasitic worms, afflict a billion impoverished people worldwide. They seldom kill directly but cause lifelong misery that stunts children’s growth, leaves adults unable to function to their fullest, and heightens the risk of other diseases.
  • Fortunately, they can be easily treated, often with a single pill. Various agencies and foundations are collaborating to deliver these drugs, although they have reached only about 10 percent of the population so far.
  • The U.S. has its own neglected parasitic diseases that affect millions of rural and urban poor.

Access the full article on Scientific American's website here.

New Analysis Reveals that Neglected Tropical Diseases are Devastating Member Nations of the Islamic Conference

Washington, D.C. October 27, 2009--A new analysis in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, reveals that disabling, debilitating and sometimes deadly neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are devastating the member nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The OIC is comprised of 57 nations and serves as the “collective voice of the Muslim world.”

In addition to several prosperous oil- and gas-producing nations in the Middle East, the OIC nations also include some of the poorest countries in the world as well as middle-income countries with large areas of poverty. Worldwide, NTDs impact more than 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day, trapping them in an endless cycle of poverty and suffering.

Sabin at CGI

The Sabin Vaccine Institute was honored to be featured twice at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative. On Wednesday, September 23, President Clinton announced Global Network logothat the Global Network joined the Inter-American Development Bank in announcing their commitment to mobilize $30 million from the public and private sectors to raise awareness and funds in support of NTD control and elimination in the Americas, supported by technical assistance from the Pan American Health Organization.

Archived Event
Never a Greater Need: Social Investment and Philanthropy in Times of Crisis

Kari Stoever of Sabin Vaccine Institute/Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases will be a featured speaker at a breakfast sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Group of Institutes, Foundations and Enterprises (GIFE), Schwab Foundation, and Synergos Institute in conjunction with the World Economic Forum on Latin American being held from April 14th to April 16th, 2009.

Just 50 Cents: A Best Buy in Public Health
Sabin resourceVideo

Neglected tropical diseases threaten millions throughout the developing world each year, but for just 50 cents, you can help fund a rapid-impact package of medications to treat the seven most common NTDs. Watch the video to learn more and find out how you change the world – through just 50 cents. Donate now!

Neglected Disease Research & Development: How Much are We Really Spending?
External resourceResearch

Moran M, Guzman J, Ropars A:, McDonald A, Sturm T, Jameson N, Wu L, Ryan S, Umune B (2009) Neglected Disease Research & Development: How Much Are We Really Spending? The George Institute for International Health, February 2009.

Trachoma

Trachoma is an infectious disease of the eye caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, and is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness.

The Neglected Tropical Diseases of Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of Disease Burden and Distribution and a Roadmap for Control and Elimination.
Sabin resourcePoint of View

The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) represent some of the most common infections of the poorest people living in the Latin American and Caribbean region (LAC). Because they primarily afflict the disenfranchised poor as well as selected indigenous populations and people of African descent, the NTDs in LAC are largely forgotten diseases even though their collective disease burden may exceed better known conditions such as of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria.