Paper short abstract:

Despite their wide-spread impact, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are marginalized in the MDGs. This research demonstrates that 28 countries have either eliminated or controlled 4 of 7 NTDs very cheaply. The pathway to the MDGs lies in the effective treatment of NTDs.

Paper long abstract:

Despite their wide-spread impact, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have been marginalized in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as "other diseases" on the global health and development agenda. Yet, they affect over 1.4 billion of the most impoverished people on earth. A new research effort by Hudson Institute and the Sabin Vaccine Institute provides documentary evidence that 28 countries have either eliminated or controlled 4 of 7 NTDs—at pennies per person served, often for $0.50. Another major finding is that the pathway to the MDGs lies in the effective treatment of NTDs. They disproportionately strike during childhood, causing a cascade of debilitating consequences through their lives, affecting their future wage-earning potentials. For instance, MDG #2 is the attainment of Universal Primary Education, a difficult one to reach when soil-transmitted helminths substantially reduce a child's school attendance and attention span while in class. And, while NTDs have low mortality rates, they are among the highest in morbidity rates, particularly within the lowest income groups in rural areas, ensuring that they remain locked into a poverty profile. Yet, of the billions expended on global health initiatives, only 0.12% has been allocated to NTDs. This research effort has finally moved NTDs out from the shadows by documenting for policy-makers that they are not only global health issues but also of a global macroeconomic concern.