Developing countries and neglected diseases: challenges and perspectives

It is now commonly admitted that the so-called (most) neglected tropical diseases have been given little attention. According to World Health Organization, neglected diseases are hidden diseases as they affect almost exclusively extremely poor populations living in remote areas beyond the reach of health service. The European Parliament recognised that, to our shame, Neglected Diseases have not received the attention they deserve from EU actions. In the Millennium Development Goals they were given very little attention and mentioned just as other disease. Investing in drugs for these diseases is thought to be not marketable or profitable. However, despite their low mortality, neglected diseases are causing severe and permanent disabilities and deformities affecting approximately 1 billion people in the world, yielding more than 20 millions of Disability Adjusted Life Years (56.6 million according to Lancet's revised estimates) and important socio-economic losses. Urgent pragmatic and efficient measures are needed both at international and national levels

Social research on neglected diseases of poverty: Continuing and emerging themes

Copyright: © 2009 Manderson et al.Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) exist and persist for social and economic reasons that enable the vectors and pathogens to take advantage of changes in the behavioral and physical environment. Persistent poverty at household, community, and national levels, and inequalities within and between sectors, contribute to the perpetuation and re-emergence of NTDs. Changes in production and habitat affect the physical environment, so that agricultural development, mining and forestry, rapid industrialization, and urbanization all result in changes in human uses of the environment, exposure to vectors, and vulnerability to infection. Concurrently, political instability and lack of resources limit the capacity of governments to manage environments, control disease transmission, and ensure an effective health system. Social, cultural, economic, and political factors interact and influence government capacity and individual willingness to reduce the risks of infection and transmission, and to recognize and treat disease. Understanding the dynamic interaction of diverse factors in varying contexts is a complex task, yet critical for successful health promotion, disease prevention, and disease control. Many of the research techniques and tools needed for this purpose are available in the applied social sciences. In this article we use this term broadly, and so include behavioral, population and economic social sciences, social and cultural epidemiology, and the multiple disciplines of public health, health services, and health policy and planning. These latter fields, informed by foundational social science theory and methods, include health promotion, health communication, and heath education

Malaria vector control practices in an irrigated rice agro-ecosystem in central Kenya and implications for malaria control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria transmission in most agricultural ecosystems is complex and hence the need for developing a holistic malaria control strategy with adequate consideration of socio-economic factors driving transmission at community level. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in an irrigated ecosystem with the aim of investigating vector control practices applied and factors affecting their application both at household and community level.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four villages representing the socio-economic, demographic and geographical diversity within the study area were purposefully selected. A total of 400 households were randomly sampled from the four study villages. Both semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to gather both qualitative and quantitative data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that malaria was perceived to be a major public health problem in the area and the role of the vector <it>Anopheles </it>mosquitoes in malaria transmission was generally recognized. More than 80% of respondents were aware of the major breeding sites of the vector. Reported personal protection methods applied to prevent mosquito bites included; use of treated bed nets (57%), untreated bed nets (35%), insecticide coils (21%), traditional methods such as burning of cow dung (8%), insecticide sprays (6%), and use of skin repellents (2%). However, 39% of respondents could not apply some of the known vector control methods due to unaffordability (50.5%), side effects (19.9%), perceived lack of effectiveness (16%), and lack of time to apply (2.6%). Lack of time was the main reason (56.3%) reported for non-application of environmental management practices, such as draining of stagnant water (77%) and clearing of vegetations along water canals (67%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study provides relevant information necessary for the management, prevention and control of malaria in irrigated agro-ecosystems, where vectors of malaria are abundant and disease transmission is stable.</p

Hybridization in parasites: consequences for adaptive evolution, pathogenesis and public health in a changing world

[No abstract available