Dear Reader

The topic of our second newsletter – following a first issue on malaria – focuses on the whole spectrum of the so-called neglected tropical diseases. These diseases justifiably gained substantial interest over the past decade. They are also an area of great interest and effort of the Swiss Tropical Institute (STI) for a long time.

While we all know very well about the “classical” neglected tropical diseases and diseases of poverty such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS that primarily affect people in resource-constraint countries, we too often tend to forget the “most neglected diseases” that include human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, also known as sleeping sickness), South American trypanosomiasis (also known as Chagas disease), Buruli ulcer, leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis and food-borne trematodiasis. The burden of these diseases – as expressed disability-adjusted live years (DALYs) – rank number two behind HIV/AIDS as presented in the figure (image bottom of text, click to enlarge), which is based on a careful analysis by Peter Hotez and colleagues [1].

These diseases are prevailing in resource-constraint settings, where people are too poor to pay for any kind of treatment and do not represent a viable market. Therefore, these diseases fell outside the scope of the drug industry’s R&D efforts for a long time. Consequently, they also did not attract sufficient attention from the public research sector. Thanks to a new global understanding and funding possibilities (public, private and charities), as well as new models of searching for innovative tools (e.g. diagnostics, drugs and vaccines) through public-private partnerships (PPPs), awareness has grown and there is renewed stimulus for substantial research efforts and disease control priorities.

It is along these lines that STI wishes to provide with this newsletter insight into its own efforts in innovation, validation and application of new approaches and strategies to contribute to the control of neglected tropical diseases. While we recognize that there is a high priority for new diagnostics, drug and vaccines to combat neglected tropical diseases, we also wish to stress that already many tools for control are available but need to be made available and accessible to those in need through integrated and sustainable control strategies that are well tailored to the respective endemic and health and social system setting. Finally and more importantly, when talking about reducing disease burden and contributing to health and well-being, we should not only think of neglected tropical diseases and how to overcome them, but also include in these consideration for practical research or public health actions systemic thoughts about neglected people and neglected health systems.

I wish you an enjoyable reading and look forward to your feedback.

Prof. Dr. Marcel Tanner
Director

[1]    Hotez PJ, Molyneux DH, Fenwick A, Ottesen E, Ehrlich Sachs S, Sachs JD (2006). Incorporating a rapid-impact package for neglected tropical diseases with programs for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. PLoS Medicine 3, e102.

 

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