Neglected No More

NTDs

Neglected Children. Neglected Diseases.

Neglected Tropical Diseases

While much of the world is aware of HIV, TB, and Malaria, 14 diseases that are currently afflicting nearly 1 billion people in the world’s poorest and most marginalized communities are, quite simply, neglected.

These Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) thrive in places with unsafe water, poor sanitation, and limited access to basic health care. They are often the source of strong social stigma, fear, and prejudice and can cause severe pain and lifelong disability. Because these diseases are not typically major killers and afflict the poorest communities, they often fly under the radar when resources are limited. Unfortunately, it is the world’s poorest children who are the most vulnerable and afflicted.

These third world diseases, however, are relatively easy to prevent and treat.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently lists the following 14 diseases as Neglected Tropical Diseases. With your help, most of these diseases can be prevented, treated, and in the case of guinea worm and possibly others, completely eradicated.

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Buruli ulcer

1

A disfiguring disease that attacks the skin and bone. Starts with a small, painless swelling and continues to grow into large painful ulcers that can leave permanent deformities.

Chagas disease

2

Transmitted by an insect called a vinchuca and endemic in South America. Symptoms include headache, muscle pain, shortness of breath, and heart failure.

Cholera/epidemic diarrheal diseases

3

Caused by contaminated food or water. Can produce extreme diarrhea that can quickly lead to dehydration and death if not promptly treated.

Dengue/dengue hemorrhagic fever

4

Common mosquito-borne virus that is the leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in several countries.

Guinea worm (dracunculiasis)

5

Crippling parasitic disease caused by drinking contaminated water. Found mainly among children, this long, thread-like worm causes excruciating pain that can incapacitate its victims for months.

Yaws (endemic treponematoses)

6

75% of its victims are children. A chronic infection that affects skin, bone, and cartilage. Can destroy bone and soft tissue, causing disfigurement and disability.

Sleeping Sickness (human African trypanosomiasis)

7

Transmitted by tsetse flies, the disease kills millions of people in Africa and causes miscarriage and perinatal death from mother-child infections. The number of cases continues to grow.

Leishmaniasis

8

Transmitted by the bite of a tiny two-three millimeter-long insect, the phlebotomine sandfly. The phlebotomine sandfly is found throughout the world's inter-tropical and temperate regions; it causes painful skin lesions and facial deformities.

Leprosy

9

Ancient, contagious, mutilating and incurable infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Affects the skin, peripheral nerves, respiratory tract, and eyes, causing disfigurement.

Elephantitis (lymphatic filariasis)

10

Caused by thread-like worms that infiltrate the lymphatic system, the disease gradually leads to disfigurement and disability, causing great pain and damage to the kidneys, arms, legs, and genitals.

River Blindness (Onchocerciais)

11

Infection caused by the bites of black flies that live near rivers. The disease causes severe vision problems, including permanent blindness.

Schistosomiasis

12

Infecting more than 200 million people worldwide, this disease is caused by water-borne flatworms and can lead to paralysis.

Parasitic Worms (soil-transmitted helminthiasis)

13

Known as intestinal worms, they are the most common infections, appearing whereever there is poverty. Affecting 1 billion people worldwide, they produce a wide range of symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weakness.

Trachoma

14

Spread through contact with an infected person and by flies that land on the eye area. The inside of the eyelid can become so severely scarred that the eyelid turns inward and lashes rub against the cornea, which leads to irreversible blindness.