I am currently taking Public Health 112 - Global Health: A Multidisciplinary Examination. I highly recommend it to any GPP students who are interested in the intersections between poverty and health. (It's a GPP elective course so I was able to get a CEC from the minor!)
In any case, a topic came up that struck me - neglected tropical diseases or NTDs. These are non-fatal diseases - ones that do not have high mortality, yet they are extremely high in morbidity - the burden of disease. Other types of diseases or disorders that have high morbidity include diarrhea, heart disease, stroke, and neck pain. They are a group of arguably 33 diseases - 13 of which have the highest disease burdens include helminthic and protozoan infections such as ascariasis, schistosomiasis, and lymphatic filariasis. I would not be surprised if no one has heard of these terms before because I certainly did not. So why am I posting about this? NTDs disproportionately affects the bottom billion - the individuals and families that are the poorest of the world. Hotez et al (article) suspect that almost every person in the bottom billion suffers from at least one of these diseases. NTDs feed into the cyclic nature of the poverty trap because those who suffer from NTDs are so burdened by the disease that they cannot work most of time, reducing their economic potential, and at the same time NTDs treatment is expensive. These two factors inadvertently affect a person's ability to escape from the poverty trap. But NTDs do not only affect the bottom billion; there are numerous cases of NTDs such as Chaga's disease right here in America (article). These diseases are detrimental and there is much work that needs to be done in this area.
Thus, the reason I feel the need to post about this is for the N in NTDs - neglected. There is an enormous lack of knowledge and awareness of these diseases, yet not much funding nor research has been done in this area. An incredible number of people are affected each year by these diseases and the general public does not know of them. Many people know malaria, HIV/AIDs, and tuberculosis. I am not advocating to stop research in those areas because that would be - to put it bluntly, stupid. What I am advocating for is increasing the awareness and support for research in other diseases that so dangerously affect those that are the most vulnerable in this world.
I have added a video here to watch. It's part of a campaign to reduce the prevalence and effects of 7 of the most burdening of NTDs. These diseases can be prevented by just one packet of pills that costs only $0.50. That's 50 cents. If enough people join in the effort, the world can see the end of all 7 of these diseases by 2020.
There are even some celebrities in it (Emily Blunt, Tom Felton, etc.) I hope you all watch it! It's incredibly moving though I must warn you, it can be disturbing!!
In any case, a topic came up that struck me - neglected tropical diseases or NTDs. These are non-fatal diseases - ones that do not have high mortality, yet they are extremely high in morbidity - the burden of disease. Other types of diseases or disorders that have high morbidity include diarrhea, heart disease, stroke, and neck pain. They are a group of arguably 33 diseases - 13 of which have the highest disease burdens include helminthic and protozoan infections such as ascariasis, schistosomiasis, and lymphatic filariasis. I would not be surprised if no one has heard of these terms before because I certainly did not. So why am I posting about this? NTDs disproportionately affects the bottom billion - the individuals and families that are the poorest of the world. Hotez et al (article) suspect that almost every person in the bottom billion suffers from at least one of these diseases. NTDs feed into the cyclic nature of the poverty trap because those who suffer from NTDs are so burdened by the disease that they cannot work most of time, reducing their economic potential, and at the same time NTDs treatment is expensive. These two factors inadvertently affect a person's ability to escape from the poverty trap. But NTDs do not only affect the bottom billion; there are numerous cases of NTDs such as Chaga's disease right here in America (article). These diseases are detrimental and there is much work that needs to be done in this area.
Thus, the reason I feel the need to post about this is for the N in NTDs - neglected. There is an enormous lack of knowledge and awareness of these diseases, yet not much funding nor research has been done in this area. An incredible number of people are affected each year by these diseases and the general public does not know of them. Many people know malaria, HIV/AIDs, and tuberculosis. I am not advocating to stop research in those areas because that would be - to put it bluntly, stupid. What I am advocating for is increasing the awareness and support for research in other diseases that so dangerously affect those that are the most vulnerable in this world.
I have added a video here to watch. It's part of a campaign to reduce the prevalence and effects of 7 of the most burdening of NTDs. These diseases can be prevented by just one packet of pills that costs only $0.50. That's 50 cents. If enough people join in the effort, the world can see the end of all 7 of these diseases by 2020.
There are even some celebrities in it (Emily Blunt, Tom Felton, etc.) I hope you all watch it! It's incredibly moving though I must warn you, it can be disturbing!!
Hey, Esther! I'm also in Public Health 112, you may recognize me from your discussion section... ;) I also really liked this topic of NTDs; the "neglected" part really caught my eye, and I was really moved by the campaign. I think that a lot of the effectiveness of the campaign for me was that the solution to these diseases that affect so many people is a simple packet of pills given over the course of a few years. The pills are also cheap. This topic also illustrated for me how disproportionate public health funding is for research and interventions, and that public health is a lot less straightforward than I thought. It seems really political. In order to secure the funding necessary for these interventions, the idea of saving the world from NTDs needs to first become popularized and trendy for NGOs and governments to hop on board with funding. Overall, I think that the video is informative and effective, and I support sharing this with as many people as you can! It was just the "neglected" part that threw me off when I first learned about these diseases.
ReplyDelete