01808nas a2200229   4500000000100000008004100001653001900042653002200061653001800083653002300101653001100124653002400135653002500159100001200184700001300196245009000209856009000299300000900389490000600398520116000404022001401564       2010                            d10aVirus Diseases10aTropical Medicine10aPublic health10aParasitic Diseases10aHumans10aBiomedical Research10aBacterial Infections1 aHotez P1 aPecoul B00a"Manifesto" for advancing the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases.  uhttp://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/asset?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0000718.PDF  ae7180 v43 a<p>Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are the most common infections of the world’s poorest people and the leading causes of chronic disability and poverty in low- and middle-income countries [1–3]. NTDs (Table 1) especially affect children and young women of reproductive age [4], and consequently deprive them of their health and economic potential [3]. NTDs also impair agricultural productivity and are an important reason why the world’s poorest 1.4 billion people who live below the poverty line cannot escape destitution and despair [3]. Despite the devastating effect of these diseases on health and development, with evidence that their global burden is as great as that of any other serious disease [1–3], financial support for control and elimination efforts, as well as research and development (R&amp;D), have been inadequate [2,5]. Indeed, in Millennium Development Goal 6 (to ‘‘combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases’’), NTDs were not even specifically mentioned but merely considered as part of the ‘‘other diseases’’ [6]. However, policy makers are slowly beginning to appreciate the importance of NTDs.</p>
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