ND Fighting NTDs is a student-run group from the University of Notre Dame. They have contributed to End the Neglect in the past, most recently with this blog post highlighting their Annual NTD Awareness week at Notre Dame last December. Today we are featuring a video that they created as an advocacy tool to encourage others to “do their part” in the fight against NTDs.
**Warning: Graphic content:
Last Friday, November 19 was International Men’s Day. See what our guest blogger Alanna Shaikh has to say about the role of gender in global health.
By: Alanna Shaikh
In theory, gender is a major factor in designing global health programs. They are gender-sensitive, and gender-balanced. Our monitoring and evaluation data is gender disaggregated. We should have this whole gender issue completely wrapped up.
In practice, though, things look different. “Gender” has turned into just another word for women. We don’t think about the complicated aspects of gender-sensitive programming. We just try to make sure that women get a voice in our work. And that’s important. That’s incredibly important. But it’s not thinking about gender. It’s thinking about women.
And when we only think about women, we miss some major points. Here’s one: men die younger than women, pretty much everywhere in the world. But we design most of our health programs around women. Here’s another: gender is a social construct, distinct from biological sex. But we rarely think about transgender people, or their needs, when we think about health programs. Continue reading
This past Spring, students from Boston University put together a series of brief 1-page flyers on 8 neglected diseases (the “big 7” plus Chagas) as a resource for raising awareness about NTDs amongst their student body. The fact sheets were themed “Worm of the Week,” highlighting one of eight NTDs each week. Fact sheets were distributed during periodic bake sales and on student listservs, and was an effective way to connect with people and spread the word about NTDs within the students’ academic community. Below is a reprint of one of the fact sheets on hookworm:
Hookworm
The 2nd most common helminthic infection after ascariasis and the leading cause of anemia and protein malnutrition affecting 740 million people worldwide. Infections can be limited to the skin (cutaneous larva migrans) or involve the small intestine by passing through the lungs. Larvae penetrate skin from feces and/or soil contaminated with nematode eggs. Adult hookworms can live in the body for 1-2 years. Cutaneous infections are caused by larvae that use dogs and cats as definitive hosts.
Symptoms
Ground itch or cutaneous larva migrans presents with a pruritic serpiginous rash. Iron-deficiency anemia is the most common symptom of intestinal infection. Cardiac complications, gastrointestinal and nutritional symptoms may also occur. Respiratory symptoms may occur during pulmonary migration of the larvae. Reinfection is common.
Diagnosis
Microscopic identification of eggs in feces is evidence of infection.
Treatment
Albendazole, mebendazole or pyrantel pamoate are the drugs of choice but are considered investigational in the US.
Prevention and Control
In 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a resolution aimed at the “deworming” of 75 percent of all at-risk school-age children by 2010, the largest public health program ever attempted to date. As with the other soil-transmitted helminths, treatment of hookworm infection is coupled with education efforts aimed at proper waste disposal and sanitation management. The Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative currently has vaccines in Phase I and II trials.
Sources: http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/soa_parasitic/en/index2.html
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/hookworm/default.htm
Just 50 cents campaign: http://www.globalnetwork.org/just50cents
“End the Neglect,” the official blog for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is looking for blog contributions from professionals and students in the global health/development field.
The Global Network launched the “End the Neglect” blog to serve as a broad, transparent platform through which we as a community can continue to raise the profile of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and disseminate stories from the field. End the Neglect is a vital education resource that informs readers of the devastating impact of NTDs and the simple and cost-effective interventions available.
While “End the Neglect” specifically focuses on NTDs, we are also interested in highlighting bloggers with a broader global health perspective. Success stories, personal stories/testimonials from the field, photos, and video are all welcome!
We accept submissions on a rolling basis. If you are interested in blogging for us, please send a writing sample of no more than 500 words and a brief background of your work/educational experience to .
Our blog post submission guidelines are as follows:
Please review the guidelines for submissions below, and contact for more information. Please also visit us on and
