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.

Cell phone microscope can detect intestinal worm infections in children

Scientists working in rural Tanzania have used a simple US$8 glass lens, a strip of double-sided tape, and a cheap flashlight to convert an Apple iPhone into a field microscope that can successfully detect intestinal worm infections in children, according to a study published online today by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

12 Mar 2013

Link between processed meat and cardiovascular disease and cancer

In a huge study of half a million men and women, research in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine demonstrates an association between processed meat and cardiovascular disease and cancer.

7 Mar 2013

'End The Neglect' blog interviews NTD expert

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End The Neglect" blog briefly interviews Ellen Agler, CEO of the END Fund, about neglected tropical diseases (NTD), noting the conversation took place at a recent event titled, "Uniting to Combat NTDs: Translating the London Declaration into Action."

6 Mar 2013

Sanford-Burnham enters into partnership to test furin for treatment of dengue fever

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and 60- Pharmaceuticals, LLC, have entered into a partnership to test furin, a human proteinase, as a drug target for the treatment of dengue fever, one of the most common infectious diseases in the tropics and subtropics.

5 Mar 2013

Examining NTD response in Obama's second term

"As President Obama's second term begins to take shape and new faces assume new leadership roles, many in Washington are trying to gauge what will happen to global health," Michelle Brooks, policy director at the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), writes in the organization's "End the Neglect" blog.

5 Mar 2013

DNDi receives 2013 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge and Culture Award

Today in Madrid, Spain, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) received the BBVA Foundation 'Frontiers of Knowledge and Culture Award for Development Cooperation'. This EUR 400,000 award will be presented at a ceremony in Madrid, Spain, in June of this year.

27 Feb 2013

Nigeria launches 'NTD Master Plan'

Last week, "Nigeria launched a multi-year national plan for the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTD Master Plan)," which "provides a platform for Nigeria to stimulate global efforts to reach elimination and control of diseases under the London Declaration and Millennium Development Goal 6," Mawish Raza, communications intern for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), writes in the group's "End The Neglect" blog.

26 Feb 2013

DNDi in Latin America wins Carlos Slim Health Award for innovations in drug development

Today the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in Latin America received the Carlos Slim Health Award for 10 years of exceptional work and achievements in research and development (R&D) to deliver new treatments for neglected patients in the region. The $100,000 award will be presented at a ceremony in April in Mexico City.

16 Feb 2013

Fighting NTDs has greater effect of empowering women

"As Melinda Gates captured through her blog piece by envisioning the conversation of women's role in the year 2030, I would also like to offer my voice in the spirit of conversation," Mawish Raza, a communications intern with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), writes in the network's "End the Neglect" blog, adding, "My hope is that by 2030, women are not only given the advantage to circumvent neglected and un-neglected diseases, but that they are able to make better use of their restored health to drive their communities out of poverty and forward into progress."

10 Feb 2013

Devex interviews WHO NTD department director on roadmap for eliminating 17 diseases

"Lorenzo Savioli, director of WHO's department of neglected tropical diseases, spoke to Devex from Geneva in a phone interview on Wednesday, January 23, days after WHO released a progress report on its year-old roadmap to eliminate 17 tropical diseases," Devex's "Development Newswire" blog reports.

28 Jan 2013

Dengue fever mosquitoes tap into domestic networks of humans, along with their bloodstreams

The mosquitoes that spread dengue fever tap into the domestic networks of humans, along with their bloodstreams, finds a study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

28 Jan 2013

2013 World Health Assembly should focus on new global rules, financing mechanisms for essential health

"This January marks the first anniversary of the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases -- a coordinated effort by endemic countries, non-governmental organizations, drug companies, and donors to improve the lives of more than a billion of the world's poorest people by the end of the decade," a Lancet editorial writes.

28 Jan 2013

Reports examine progress in global NTD response

Writing in the ONE Blog, Neeraj Mistry, managing director of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, highlights two reports released last week that examine global efforts against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) one year after the London Declaration, as well as a report by the Hudson Institute, also released last week, which "highlight[s] the crucial links between NTDs and broader economic and societal consequences."

24 Jan 2013

Clinical trial to evaluate cyclodextrin against Niemann-Pick disease type C1

A clinical trial to evaluate a drug candidate called cyclodextrin as a possible treatment for Niemann-Pick disease type C1 (NPC), a rare and fatal genetic disease, will start today, researchers announced.

24 Jan 2013

NTD treatments are cost-effective, report shows

"Recently, Hudson Institute's Center for Science in Public Policy, in partnership with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, published a new report to highlight the links between NTDs and socio-economic prosperity," according to the network's "End the Neglect" blog.

21 Jan 2013

New report highlights links between NTDs and socio-economic prosperity

A recently released report, entitled "Social and Economic Impact Review on Neglected Tropical Diseases," highlights links between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and socio-economic prosperity.

19 Jan 2013

Reports examine global NTD response one year after London declaration

Two reports released Wednesday provide an update on the global response against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) a year after leaders of some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies met in London and agreed to fight the diseases, Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley reports in her "Global Health Blog."

18 Jan 2013

Blog features two posts on new NTD publications

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' (NTDs) "End the Neglect" blog features two posts discussing the first anniversary of the London Declaration and two recently released reports on progress against NTDs.

18 Jan 2013

Scientists identify new mechanism for schistosomiasis-bladder cancer connection

About 200 million people across 75 of the poorest countries in the world are now infected by the blood parasite Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium). The infection causes severe urogenital disease, but also causes bladder cancer in a number of patients and why this occurs is not clear.

17 Jan 2013

Venture social investment 'could be a new thinking' in development aid

In an opinion piece in The Hill's "Congress Blog," Taufiqur Rahman, an international health consultant and founder of the Center for Implementation Efficiency, explores the concept of "venture social investment or VSI," in which the idea of venture capitalism is used "to reward good ideas or sustainable initiatives by investing limited foreign aid money to gain a much bigger and sustainable impact in developing countries" and creating "a partnership between developed world and low-income countries."

17 Jan 2013