Tweet
30 January 2025
In the most remote places in the world, people are daily battling diseases that many people may never have heard of. Called neglected tropical diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognises 20 such conditions. They’re called neglected diseases because diagnostics and treatments for them are overlooked by governments, pharmaceutical companies, and philanthropists.
In Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) projects, from South Sudan to Nigeria, and Ethiopia to Honduras, these diseases are hard to neglect. Our teams see how they are distressing, disfiguring, and stigmatising for people who are infected. Here are four neglected tropical diseases we see in communities we serve, and what can be done to prevent, control, eliminate, and eradicate them. ...
1. Noma
Noma begins as ulcers in the mouth that quickly turn gangrenous, eating away at facial tissue. If antibiotics are used early enough, noma is completely treatable. ...
2. Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis gets its common name, snail fever, because it is caused by a parasite in snails. ...
3. Visceral leishmaniasis
People infected with this neglected tropical disease will have their tissue attacked by a parasite, which is transmitted through the bites of sandflies. Initial mild symptoms – often mistaken for other diseases – develop into a prolonged fever, enlarged spleen, anaemia, and substantial weight loss. Without treatment, it can quickly become fatal. ...
4. Sleeping sickness
The parasites that cause sleeping sickness attack the brain and spinal cord, leaving infected people to eventually fall into a coma. Without treatment, it’s fatal. ...
In the most remote places in the world, people are daily battling diseases that many people may never have heard of. Called neglected tropical diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognises 20 such conditions. They’re called neglected diseases because diagnostics and treatments for them are overlooked by governments, pharmaceutical companies, and philanthropists.
In Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) projects, from South Sudan to Nigeria, and Ethiopia to Honduras, these diseases are hard to neglect. Our teams see how they are distressing, disfiguring, and stigmatising for people who are infected. Here are four neglected tropical diseases we see in communities we serve, and what can be done to prevent, control, eliminate, and eradicate them. ...
1. Noma
Noma begins as ulcers in the mouth that quickly turn gangrenous, eating away at facial tissue. If antibiotics are used early enough, noma is completely treatable. ...
2. Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis gets its common name, snail fever, because it is caused by a parasite in snails. ...
3. Visceral leishmaniasis
People infected with this neglected tropical disease will have their tissue attacked by a parasite, which is transmitted through the bites of sandflies. Initial mild symptoms – often mistaken for other diseases – develop into a prolonged fever, enlarged spleen, anaemia, and substantial weight loss. Without treatment, it can quickly become fatal. ...
4. Sleeping sickness
The parasites that cause sleeping sickness attack the brain and spinal cord, leaving infected people to eventually fall into a coma. Without treatment, it’s fatal. ...