Changing global disease patterns and the need for medical innovation

• Author: Catherine Jewell
• Position: Communications Division, WIPO

What are neglected tropical diseases?

The concept of NTDs was established after the launch of the 2000 Millennium Development Goals. At the time, HIV/AIDs, malaria and tuberculosis were priority action areas, but given the huge health burden caused by parasitic diseases, my colleagues and I led global efforts for a cluster of the most common, chronic and debilitating conditions to be recognized as NTDs. Our aim was to draw attention to the human suffering these diseases cause and to attract funding for the development of new, more effective therapies to treat them.

Today, the NTDs include at least 17 chronic parasitic and related infections recognized by the World Health Organization. Almost everyone living in poverty has at least one of them. NTDs are diseases of poverty, of social stigma and of conflict. I often say that they are a reason why the bottom billion cannot escape poverty.

What progress has been made in treating NTDs?

Over the last 15 years we have made a significant impact through the use of “rapid impact packages” of low-cost generic drugs or drugs donated by multinational pharmaceutical companies, for example Zithromax (Pfizer), Ivermectin (MSD) and Praziquantel (Merck KGaA). We estimate around one billion people in low and middle-income countries have received this treatment so far. In some cases, we have matched achievements recorded for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB and are on the point of eliminating trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and ascariasis. But similar progress has not yet been achieved for other NTD drug targets such as hookworm and schistosomiasis.

Despite these successes, the full impact of NTDs is still seriously underestimated. For example, NTDs account for a hidden burden of illness ordinarily attributed to the non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Take Schistosoma haematobium infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to a paper published in Acta Tropica, the eggs of the Schistosoma parasite are deposited in the bladder of 112 million people in Africa every day, producing 70 million cases of blood appearing in urine, 18 million cases of major bladder wall pathology, 9.6 million cases of hydronephrosis, 1.7 million non-functioning kidneys, one-third of all bladder cancers in Sub-Saharan Africa and 150,000 deaths from renal failure or bladder cancer. These diseases, however, are often classified as non-communicable renal diseases and not as NTDs.

Similarly, studies show that female genital schistosomiasis – possibly Africa’s most common gynecological condition, affecting...