New innovations in water sanitation and waste management can make great strides in NTD prevention, especially in diseases such as trachoma, schistosomiasis, and onchocerciasis which can be caused by contaminated water. Check out this video released by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation about new innovations in water and waste infrastructure.
Kim Koporc is director of Children Without Worms and has contributed to End the Neglect in the past. She recently wrote a piece on school deworming for ABC News’ “Save a Life” initiative, a year-long project that brings to light the most prominent global health issues affecting the poorest of poor throughout the world. Ms. Koporc’s contribution is below:
By Kim Koporc, Director of Children Without Worms
Recently, the World Health Organization adjusted its figures to better quantify how much of the world’s population is affected by three types of parasites – roundworm, hookworm and whipworms – known collectively as soil-transmitted helminths (STH).
The new number is disconcerting. More than 800 million children on the planet are at risk of infection, and, included in those at greatest risk are school-age children (age 6 to 15) – 600 million of them – whose lives could be changed forever if not treated. Once these parasites enter the body, they sap the vital nutrients children need to grow and rob them of the energy they need to pay attention at school. Even the most energetic six year old can become appallingly lethargic, and, over time, the malnutrition can lead to a string of serious infections and eventually stunt a child’s growth forever.
While rarely fatal, an untreated infection can be the start of a lifetime of hardship – after all, children who cannot learn at school will find it even more difficult to earn a living for themselves, take care of their family and break out of the cycle of poverty.
Click here to read the post in its entirety.
Washington, DC – July 19, 2011 – Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which primarily affect poor people in developing countries, are now being found among the poor in relatively affluent regions as well, particularly in parts of Eastern Europe with a history of war and conflict. This is the focus of a new article in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases authored by Dr. Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and Meredith Gurwith of Georgetown University.
Specifically, areas of conflict in Eastern Europe continue to suffer from the adverse health effects of poverty brought on by weakened economies and disenfranchised populations. People living in the Balkans and the former Soviet bloc countries are most vulnerable to being trapped in a cycle of poverty that is exacerbated by NTDs, particularly ethnic minority groups and immigrants. Among the prevalent diseases profiled in the article, the following was highlighted.
Science Speaks is a project of the Center for Global Health Policy. It is resource containing the latest developments in tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. ScienceSpeaks recently featured Sabin Vaccine President Dr. Peter Hotez, and picked his brain about the link between NTDs and HIV:
“At a recent briefing on Capitol Hill entitled, “Making the Case for Cost-Effectiveness of Vaccines for Global Health,” Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, talked about a little-known infection called schistosomiasis. A disease caused by parasitic worms, Hotez called it “the most important cause of HIV you’ve never heard of.”
Moving from George Washington University to Baylor College of Medicine at the beginning of August, Hotez is a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor and is also chief of a new Section of Pediatric Tropical Medicine and founding Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine. He is the current president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and is the Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics. Science Speaks spoke with Hotez to find out more about the parasitic infection, who is most susceptible and how it increases HIV transmission.”
Read the full blog entry here.
