Neglected Diseases

In impoverished areas of the world among populations of lower socioeconomic status, many diseases are often overlooked and inhibit the daily lives of many people. These diseases are known as neglected diseases and affect more than 1 billion people according to the World Health Organization. Neglected diseases are most common in areas of Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and parts of the United States where poverty rates are high, drinking water is unsafe, sanitation is poor, housing is substandard, and there is limited access to healthcare.

The reason neglected diseases are called as such is due to the lack of attention given to them by drug developers, government officials, public health programs, and the media. Although the cost of producing drugs for some of these diseases can be low, the people suffering from these diseases often cannot afford to treat the diseases. Thus, private pharmaceutical companies aren’t always able to develop and produce treatments. Additionally, neglected diseases most commonly affect underdeveloped nations, and they aren’t considered high priorities for prevention and treatment. Another reason neglected diseases are overlooked is that they don’t cause dramatic outbreaks. Rather, they take effect over long periods, leading to deformities, disabilities, and relatively slow deaths. 

Neglected diseases most typically take the form of tropical diseases that are caused by parasites. Some examples of tropical diseases include African trypanosomiasis. This disease is “commonly called sleeping sickness, and is caused by a parasitic microbe transmitted by tsetse flies. If untreated, the parasite migrates to the central nervous system, causing seizures, mental disorders, and, ultimately, death. As many as 70,000 people are infected in Central and East Africa” (Source). 

Another example is hookworm infections in humans. These infections are caused by intestinal worm parasites transmitted by contaminated soil to humans. Hookworm infections can cause internal blood loss and are the leading cause of anemia and protein malnutrition in the world. This is especially prevalent among pregnant women and children. More than half a billion people in Africa, Latin-America, Southeast Asia, and China’s poverty-stricken areas have hookworm infections (Source).

Some other tropical infections caused by parasites include leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and schistosomiasis. However, not all tropical infections are caused by parasites, and some are caused by bacteria. Tropical infections caused by bacteria include Buruli ulcer, trachoma, and yaws. 

Neglected diseases are difficult to treat since the population affected by these diseases are often diagnosed in the later stages, which is more difficult to treat. Even if these populations are diagnosed at an earlier stage, most can’t afford the medication used to treat the disease. However, the NIH launched the Therapies for Rare and Neglected Diseases to combat this problem. This program aims to “create an integrated research pipeline to jump-start the development of new treatments for rare and neglected disease.”

National Human Genome Research Institute. "Neglected Diseases FAQ."

     Genome.gov, 14 May 2012, www.genome.gov/FAQ/Neglected-Diseases.

     Accessed 21 Mar. 2021. 

By: Sreenidhi Saripalli