Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are those largely ignored by medical science, partly because they do not represent a viable commercial market for private pharmaceutical companies. These diseases are endemic in developing countries and have a significant impact at both personal and national levels. Globally, NTDs affect an estimated 2.7 billion people living on less than US$2 per day and potently reinforce the poverty cycle. At present, the prevailing strategy for improving access to medicines for these NTDs is drug donation programmes, which, despite providing some of the highest economic returns of public health programmes at 15%–30%, have uncertain sustainability. Countries in demographic and economic transition are uniquely poised to be leaders in a shift towards a more sustainable, affordable means of providing access to medicines for NTDs.
BT - PLoS neglected tropical diseases C1 -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22389728?dopt=Abstract
DO - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001390 IS - 2 J2 - PLoS Negl Trop Dis LA - eng N2 -Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are those largely ignored by medical science, partly because they do not represent a viable commercial market for private pharmaceutical companies. These diseases are endemic in developing countries and have a significant impact at both personal and national levels. Globally, NTDs affect an estimated 2.7 billion people living on less than US$2 per day and potently reinforce the poverty cycle. At present, the prevailing strategy for improving access to medicines for these NTDs is drug donation programmes, which, despite providing some of the highest economic returns of public health programmes at 15%–30%, have uncertain sustainability. Countries in demographic and economic transition are uniquely poised to be leaders in a shift towards a more sustainable, affordable means of providing access to medicines for NTDs.
PY - 2012 EP - e1390 T2 - PLoS neglected tropical diseases TI - Improving access to medicines for neglected tropical diseases in developing countries: lessons from three emerging economies. UR - http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0001390 VL - 6 SN - 1935-2735 ER -