Currently there are eight acknowledged nuclear power states (America, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, and North Korea) with more, (Israel, Iran, and Syria), believed to have nuclear programs. But what if those powers took some of the immense amounts of money they put into their nuclear programs and instead used it for treating NTDs? That question is the basis of a new editorial in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Disease by Dr. Peter Hotez.
Dr. Hotez estimates that, since the Manhattan Project, “the 11 nuclear weapons states together have invested at least 10 trillion dollars on weapons production and maintenance” while “the costs for both neglected disease control and R and D comes close to a billion dollars, or roughly less than 1/10,000th of the estimated 10 trillion dollars committed for nuclear weapons.” All of these nations, with the possible exception of Great Britain have a significant NTD burden.
Investments in nuclear weaponry are carried out under the auspice of deterring war and thus promoting peace, says Hotez, but these and additional benefits can be achieved through neglected disease funding. Increased investments in neglected disease research could control or eliminate neglected infections, support achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, stabilize and build nations, and reduce civil strife and international tensions.
To read the full text of the editorial, click here.
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