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Many neglected diseases lacking research funding

The first comprehensive survey of global spending on neglected disease R&D, published in this week's PLoS Medicine , finds that just over $US 2.5 billion was invested into R&D of new products in 2007, with three diseases-HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria-receiving nearly 80% of the total

5 Feb 2009

Waging war on tropical diseases may be key to U.S. foreign policy

Stating that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) not only promote poverty but also destabilize communities, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Sabin Vaccine Institute President Peter Hotez call upon the public-health and foreign-policy communities to embrace medical diplomacy and NTD control as a means to combat terrorism in an article published January 27 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

27 Jan 2009

Rethink needed on how communities affected with trachoma are treated

One or two rounds of high coverage mass treatment with azithromycin, rather than the annual treatment recommended by the World Health Organisation, may be enough to eliminate the eye disease trachoma in communities with moderate levels of infection.

23 Apr 2008

Sanitation investment in poor countries would yield $9-to-1 benefits in productivity, health and other benefits

Experts estimate that $9 in productivity, health and other benefits are returned for every dollar invested installing toilets for people in countries that today are off-track in meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for sanitation.

24 Mar 2008

Sixty-two per cent of Africans do not have access to a proper toilet

Sixty-two per cent of Africans do not have access to an improved sanitation facility -- a proper toilet -- which separates human waste from human contact, according to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation.

24 Mar 2008

Biannual mass antibiotic treatment may help reduce contagious eye disease trachoma in Africa

Changing the administration of the antibiotic azithromycin from once to twice a year in villages in Ethiopia substantially reduced eye infections in preschool children caused by chlamydia, which causes the serious, contagious eye disease trachoma, according to a study in the February 20 issue of JAMA.

20 Feb 2008

Chlamydia trachomatis genome sheds light on an emerging infection

Researchers have decoded the genome of the strain of Chlamydia that causes the most severe, invasive form of the disease. Their study shows that, despite recent increases in invasive infections, the strain has remained virtually unchanged for 40 years.

7 Jan 2008

Multiple species of bacteria may cause infectious eye disease trachoma

In a study published in this week's PLoS Medicine, researchers have found that more than one species of bacteria may be causing the infectious eye disease trachoma.

4 Jan 2008

Neglected tropical diseases, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis and schistosomiasis

Though little known to most Americans, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis and other so-called neglected tropical diseases are responsible for severe health burdens, especially among the world's poorest people.

28 Dec 2007

Bold proposal to restructure drug development patents

Weill Cornell Medical College scientist Dr. Carl Nathan has issued a bold call for reforming the pharmaceutical development and patent systems in order to increase the number of vaccines and drugs available to combat neglected diseases that are ravaging the world's poor.

8 Mar 2007

WHO unveils new strategy to fight some of the most neglected tropical diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) and a group of more than 25 partner organizations unveiled a new strategy to fight some of the most neglected tropical diseases that destroy the lives and health of poor people.

26 Oct 2006

Waterborne infectious diseases could soon be consigned to history

Waterborne infectious diseases, which bring death and illness to millions of people around the world, could largely be consigned to history by 2015 if global health partnerships integrate their programmes, according to Alan Fenwick writing in Science.

28 Aug 2006

Do regulatory T cells have a role in human ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection?

Trachoma, which is caused by ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, remains the leading infectious cause of blindness and in 2002 was responsible for 3.6% of total global blindness.

8 Aug 2006

Simple "dipstick" test could save millions from blindness

A Cambridge University team have developed a simple "dipstick" test to detect the eye infection trachoma, a disease spread by flies, which could potentially help save the sight of millions around the world.

15 May 2006

Single dose of oral antibiotic azithromycin taken after trichiasis eye surgery prevents recurrence of inturned eyelashes

A Johns Hopkins Medicine study finds that a single dose of the oral antibiotic azithromycin taken after trichiasis eye surgery can reduce the frequency with which eyelashes turn back in and abrade the eye.

14 Mar 2006

Antibiotic not sufficient for treating trachoma in populations with high disease prevalence

Treating trachoma, an eye infection that can lead to blindness, with a single mass antibiotic distribution in Ethiopian communities with high prevalence of infection is not effective in eliminating the disease

9 Mar 2006

Tropical diseases such as sleeping sickness, schistosomiasis, river blindness, hookworm, elephantiasis, and blinding trachoma are being ignored

"The big three" infections AIDS, TB and malaria have caught the world's attention but other disabling and fatal infectious diseases in Africa are being ignored, say three eminent tropical disease researchers in the international health journal PLoS Medicine.

11 Oct 2005

300 million people in the developing world are seriously ill from intestinal worms

300 million people in the developing world are seriously ill from intestinal worms. Treatment is cheap and effective—and if successfully delivered with other public-health measures could make a substantial contribution to achieving many of the world’s Millennium development Goals (MDGs), concludes the lead editorial in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

4 Dec 2004

Study highlights the effectiveness of azithromycin (Zithromax) in reducing infection rates of trachoma

The New England Journal of Medicine published today a study entitled "Mass Treatment with Single-Dose Azithromycin for Trachoma."

4 Nov 2004

Pollution kills more than three milion children under the age of five every year

Around the world, polluted air and water and other environment-related hazards kill more than three milion children under the age of five every year.

24 Jun 2004