Neglected tropical diseases

Neglected tropical diseases are a group of infectious and other conditions concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions, disproportionately affecting impoverished populations and receiving limited attention and resources.

World Health Organization: The United Nations agency that directs and coordinates international public health. WHO maintains the widely used list of diseases classified as neglected tropical diseases.
Lymphatic filariasis: A mosquito-borne parasitic disease that can cause chronic swelling and disability. Its disfiguring effects and association with poverty exemplify the group's neglected burden.
Mass drug administration: The delivery of medicines to entire at-risk populations without requiring individual diagnosis first. Preventive treatment can rapidly reduce infection for diseases with effective, safe medicines.
Disability-adjusted life year: A measure of disease burden combining years of life lost and years lived with disability. It helps quantify health losses that mortality counts alone can miss.
Emerging infectious disease: An infectious disease whose incidence or geographic range is increasing, or that threatens to increase. Emerging infections often attract urgent attention, unlike long-standing diseases that remain underfunded.
Social determinants of health: The social and economic conditions that shape health, illness, and access to care. Poverty and unequal access to services help sustain the burdens of these diseases.
Onchocerciasis: A parasitic disease transmitted by blackflies that can cause severe itching and blindness. Mass treatment campaigns have reduced transmission while illustrating the scale of coordinated control.
Integrated vector management: A coordinated approach to reducing disease-carrying vector populations using multiple suitable methods. Vector control complements medicines where insects sustain transmission.
Stigma: Social discredit or exclusion attached to a trait, condition, or identity. Visible symptoms can provoke exclusion and deepen the hardships caused by illness.
Malaria: A mosquito-borne parasitic disease that causes fever and can be fatal without effective treatment. It shares tropical settings and poverty links but receives greater global recognition and dedicated funding.

Linked from 14 pages