By: Alanna Shaikh
Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) testified before the US congress today on Neglected Tropical Diseases. The testimony, from Suerie Moon on the U.S. Board of Directors of MSF, was a valuable reminder of why we continue to fight the NTDs, and introduced some of MSF’s core principles in global health. It’s an interesting speech.
She began by talking about NTDs. Her focus was on Chagas diseases, which is a major MSF focus, but the content applies to all the NTDS. First, she pointed out that the US presidential neglected tropical disease initiative only covered 5 out of the 14 Neglected Tropical Diseases. Chagas, as MSF was quick to point out, was not included. Neither were kala azar (aka Visceral leishmaniasis) or Trypanosomiasis (African sleeping sickness).