Financial Times features special report on NTDs

The Financial Times has published a special report (.pdf) on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) featuring 10 articles examining issues including prevention, research, and treatment.

• Economic Reality Spurs Innovation: More attention is being paid to NTDs, as policymakers and researchers realize "their corporate responsibility, ... economic self-interest," and how the diseases can stunt economic development by disabling many in the workforce, particularly in Africa, the newspaper reports (Jack, 10/10).
• Prevention: Science is fighting the dengue war on four fronts: The newspaper examines the difficulties researchers face in finding a vaccine for dengue, because the disease can be caused by four different viral strains (Roland, 10/10).
• A little effort can produce great strides: The Financial Times speaks with John Kufour, the former president of Ghana, about his country's efforts to fight NTDs. "He stresses the importance of clean drinking water, and partnerships with non-governmental organizations to help tackle neglected diseases," and he "also cites the broader impact of the pioneering introduction of health insurance," according to the newspaper (Jack, 10/10).
• Vector control: Ruining the mosquito's sex life may pay: "Genetic modification could be a powerful weapon against the mosquitoes that transmit dengue," the Financial Times writes (Cookson, 10/10).
• Research: Funds sharpen scientific focus: "Medical science is paying more attention to [NTDs], helped by increased funding from the pharmaceutical industry, governments and charities," the newspaper writes and outlines some of the research aimed at stopping the diseases (Cookson, 10/10).
• Linkage: Joint approach is still a dream: "While the connections between many conditions may be poorly studied, the potential for saving money and improving health by coordinating the efforts of those fighting them is substantial," according to the newspaper, which highlights several ways program integration could occur (Jack, 10/10).
• United States: Poor hit hardest by chronic infections: "Impoverished parts of the U.S. remain a hotbed of rare diseases that many Americans have never heard of, with illnesses such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, Trench fever, and dengue still prevalent," the Financial Times reports (Rappeport, 10/10).
• Eradication: Tide may be turning against guinea worm: "[T]he near eradication of this painful and debilitating disease is being celebrated as a global health success story," the newspaper writes (Murray, 10/10).
• Research: A shared way forward offers hope: The article looks at how public-private partnerships and data sharing are helping to move forward research into NTD prevention and treatment (Jack, 10/10).
• Corporate efforts: Companies strive for better outcomes from donations: The Financial Times examines companies that make pledges to donate medications and some of the challenges they face in distribution (Jack, 10/10).