Tropical Disease News and Research

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Tropical diseases encompass all diseases that occur solely, or principally, in the tropics. In practice, the term is often taken to refer to infectious diseases that thrive in hot, humid conditions, such as malaria, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, Chagas disease, African trypanosomiasis, and dengue.

New NTD Special Envoys to focus on eliminating NTD primarily on LAC region

Today, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, a major initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, announced His Excellency, President Alvaro Arz- Irigoyen of Guatemala (1996-2000), His Excellency, President Ricardo Lagos Escobar of Chile (2000-2006) and former Pan American Health Organization Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago as the organization's newest Neglected Tropical Disease Special Envoys.

8 May 2013

Congress should maintain support of global health programs 'despite fiscal challenges'

"U.S. support for global health has had a major impact around the world, particularly our contributions to fighting malaria through the President's Malaria Initiative and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria," Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases, and Steve Davis, CEO of PATH, write in a Washington Times opinion piece.

30 Apr 2013

Financial Times publishes special report on malaria

The Financial Times has published a special report (.pdf) on malaria featuring articles examining issues including prevention, treatment and research and development (R&D).

26 Apr 2013

Three steps to eliminating NTDs

In a post on the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) editor-in-chief Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, reviews progress being made toward the elimination of NTDs through mass drug administration and other efforts.

25 Apr 2013

WHO highlights threat of antimalarial drug resistance in Greater Mekong subregion

On World Malaria Day, 25 April, WHO recognizes significant accomplishments in preventing and controlling malaria, including in high-burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but highlights the threat of antimalarial drug resistance in south-east Asia's Greater Mekong subregion, where an emergency response is now being launched.

25 Apr 2013

Partnership and accountability among countries will lead to global health successes

In remarks at the Africa Health Forum on Friday in Washington, D.C., Deputy Secretary of State William Burns discussed the evolution of foreign assistance and cooperation "from a donor-recipient relationship to more of a partnership," according to a speech transcript provided by the U.S. State Department.

23 Apr 2013

Edible malarial vaccine may work against other viral and bacterial infections

Can scientists rid malaria from the Third World by simply feeding algae genetically engineered with a vaccine? That's the question biologists at UC San Diego sought to answer after they demonstrated last May that algae can be engineered to produce a vaccine that blocks malaria transmission.

22 Apr 2013

Five Japanese drug makers form PPP to accelerate development of drugs, vaccines for infectious diseases

"Five Japanese pharmaceutical giants are teaming up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Japan's government to develop new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics for infectious diseases in developing countries," GENNews reports (4/8).

10 Apr 2013

Research suggests number of dengue cases three times higher than current WHO estimate

"Around 390 million people are infected each year with dengue fever -- the world's fastest-spreading tropical disease -- more than triple the current estimate by the World Health Organization, experts said on Sunday," Reuters reports.

9 Apr 2013

VOA News reports on pilot program against lymphatic filariasis in Nigeria

VOA News reports on "a new public health strategy, tested in Nigeria," which is "raising hopes" that the tropical disease known as lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis, can be eliminated.

9 Apr 2013

Study creates first detailed, up-to-date map of dengue distribution worldwide

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8 Apr 2013

A*STAR's professor receives Szent-Gy-rgyi prize for groundbreaking cancer pill

Professor Alex Matter, Chief Executive Officer of A*STAR's Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), has been awarded the 8th Annual Szent-Gy-rgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research by the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) for his contributions to the development of the first drug specifically targeting a molecular lesion in cancer.

7 Apr 2013

USAID releases new issue of 'FrontLines'

The March/April issue of USAID's "FrontLines" focuses on access to safe water and neglected tropical diseases.

6 Apr 2013

NTDs have 'devastating consequences' for 1 out of 6 people worldwide

"There are so many things we take for granted in America. One of them is that our children are not regularly infected by one of the tropical diseases so common among the world's poorest people," Richard Besser, ABC News' chief health and medical editor, writes in an ABC News opinion piece.

3 Apr 2013

Texas Tech Professor receives NIH grant to research on leishmaniasis

A Texas Tech University biology professor received a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the biochemistry of a microscopic parasite responsible for the tropical disease leishmaniasis in the hope of finding a cure.

2 Apr 2013

Blog reports on Annual World Water Day Congressional Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill

"On March 20, 2013, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases participated in the 4th Annual World Water Day Congressional Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.," the organization's "End the Neglect" blog reports.

28 Mar 2013

U.S. Office of Global Health Diplomacy should lead G20 efforts to ensure global NTD drug coverage

"Because they strike mostly forgotten people living on less than $2 per day, [neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)] have traditionally been thought of as a problem exclusive to low-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa," Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and president and director of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece

27 Mar 2013

Blog describes efforts to fight NTDs in Brazil

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End The Neglect" blog reports on the Brazilian Ministry of Health's launch of "a public health campaign to diagnose and treat soil-transmitted helminths (or intestinal parasites) and leprosy in school-aged children" and says it will feature stories related to the fight against NTDs in Brazil over the coming days.

22 Mar 2013

Lancet to launch new global health journal

The Lancet on Monday announced the launch of a new journal, Lancet Global Health, according to a press release (3/18).

21 Mar 2013

New Pope will need to consider burden of NTDs

"Almost certainly, in its deliberations [to select a new Pope,] the conclave of cardinals will consider a number of difficult and well-publicized problems now facing the Catholic Church," Peter Hotez, co-editor in chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, writes in the journal's "Speaking of Medicine" blog.

14 Mar 2013