With the G8 summit wrapping up last week in Deauville, France, the global health community is abuzz with the results of the meeting. Charles Ebikeme, who has written for End the Neglect on African Sleeping Sickness and Buruli Ulcer in the past, shared his thoughts on why the G8 countries should pay more attention to neglected tropical diseases in this recent article published in The Guardian.

“A pro-poor aid agenda aimed at tackling health provides stunning economic rates of return. For every $1 invested in control of Chagas disease in Brazil, $7 is returned. Lymphatic filariasis control in China produces a 15-fold return. Guinea worm eradication has been calculated to produce an economic rate of return of 29%. All of this without even mentioning the most important return – the life saved.”

Read the article in its entirety here.