By: Alanna Shaikh
We all know the obvious effects on neglected tropical diseases. Sickness, death, loss of economic productivity. A drag on the health system and governments in general. But the impact of the NTDs is deeper and more insidious than that – they affect every aspect of life in some developing nations. So, without further ado, I present – four unexpected impacts of the NTDs:
1. Higher Fertility rates
Most of the neglected tropical diseases are hardest on children; kids bear the brunt of the sickness and death that they cause. As a result, parents grow to expect that their children will frequently sicken and occasionally die. So, they have more kids, just to make sure they have some who survive to adulthood. Countries which have endemic NTDs also have higher fertility rates.
Higher rates of fertility, in return, are hard on the health of mothers, children, and families. Which makes them more vulnerable to NTDs. It’s an ugly cycle.
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