According to the WHO, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) affect over 1 billion people worldwide, and are devastating to patients in the developing world. What is being done to get treatments to these patients and to speed development of new treatments?

conversationsneglected tropical diseasestropical diseasesnew medicinesInnovationOpinion46864687468846894690469246914693Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) impact more than a billion people in some of the poorest, most remote parts of the world, blinding, disabling, disfiguring and sickening those infected. They have a negative impact on life expectancy, productivity and childhood education -- all of which create a cycle of poverty and stigma for affected communities. Today, because of renewed and new commitments, millions impacted by NTDs are being treated, several NTDs are being controlled effectively, and some even eliminated.  More than 25 years ago, Merck made the unprecedented decision to donate Mectizan® for as long as needed, wherever needed, to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness) -- a debilitating, disfiguring disease and once a leading cause of blindness.   In 1998, Merck extended its commitment to the prevention of lymphatic filariasis(LF) in African countries where it co-exists with river blindness.  Through a broad, multi-sectoral partnership, the Mectizan Donation Program now reaches more than 200 million people annually.  Onchocerciasis has been eliminated from Colombia and disease transmission has been interrupted – meaning no new cases have been identified – in three other Latin American countries and nine regions in five African countries.   Steady progress is being made to achieve elimination of both LF and river blindness by 2020 and 2025,...
Source: PHRMA - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news