( International health agencies have desi...)A New Era of Hope for the World's Most Neglected Diseases

International health agencies have designated a group of 13 tropical infections as neglected diseases (Kala-azar (leishmaniasis), African Sleeping Sickness (African trypanosomiasis), Chagas Disease (American trypanosomiasis), Schistosomiasis, Lymphatic Filariasis (elephantiasis), Onchocerciasis (river blindness), Drancunculiasis (guinea worm), Soil-transmitted Helminthiases, Leprosy, Buruli Ulcer, Trachoma).

These diseases have much in common: they affect the world's poorest people (and are a cause of poverty); they are disabling, disfiguring, and stigmatizing; there is a shortage of safe and effective treatments; and affected patients have represented the lowest-priority markets for Western pharmaceutical manufacturers. Bernard Pécoul of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) has called these patients “the forgotten people.?/p>

The conventional wisdom is that the outlook for such patients is hopeless. As one of us has argued, “[They] have no purchasing power, no vocal advocacy group is pleading for their needs, and no strategic interests—military or security—are driving concern about these conditions?(BMJ 325: 176?77). Hence, only 13 new drugs have been developed for neglected tropical diseases since 1975, and they have garnered little international attention compared with “the big three?global health threats: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Fortunately, there is good news to report. The ?005 reality,?argues Mary Moran of the London School of Economics in an article in PLoS Medicine (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020302), is that an explosion of public–private partnerships for health has dramatically altered the landscape of neglected-disease drug development. Her analysis shatters a common illusion—that industry is profoundly disinterested in developing drugs for neglected diseases. “Long-held beliefs on neglected-disease drug development activity are no longer accurate,?writes Moran.

According to her analysis, 63 neglected
'"/>

Source:PLoS Medecine

Page: 1 2 3
Related biology news :

1. Worlds largest rainforest drying experiment completes first phase
2. Worlds pledge to halve hunger by 2015 looks like empty promise
3. Worlds smallest cancer detection device
4. Worlds largest flower evolved from family of much tinier blooms
5. Worlds leading scientists announce creation of Encyclopedia of Life
6. A New Era Of Hope For Neglected Diseases