When you think of global health breakthroughs, what comes to mind? Maybe vaccines for COVID-19, cancer immunotherapy, or new antibiotics. But for over a billion people, those innovations might as well be happening on another planet.

These are the people living in rural villages of sub-Saharan Africa, floodplains of Bangladesh, or crowded settlements in Brazil’s favelas — where Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) quietly steal lives, limbs, and futures.

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What Are Neglected Tropical Diseases?

NTDs are a group of about 20 infectious diseases — like leprosy, river blindness, Chagas disease, and schistosomiasis — that flourish in hot, humid environments with poor sanitation and limited healthcare. They rarely kill immediately, but they disable, disfigure, and trap communities in poverty.

A child with chronic hookworm infection can’t concentrate in school. A farmer blinded by river blindness can’t work. Families already living on the edge are pushed deeper into poverty.

The Economics of Neglect

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most pharmaceutical research follows money, not need. Developing a new drug costs over $2 billion on average. For conditions like diabetes or depression, that’s an investment worth making. Millions of customers can pay. But for diseases that mostly affect people earning less than $2 a day, there’s no profitable market.

They are called “neglected” not because we don’t know they exist, but because they are almost absent from the global health agenda. Even today, when the world talks about universal health coverage, NTDs receive very limited resources and are largely ignored by global funding agencies.

NTDs are diseases of neglected populations — and they trap people in a cycle of poor educational outcomes and limited professional opportunities. Beyond the physical suffering, they carry stigma and social exclusion, further isolating those already at the margins.

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Fun Fact:

Between 1975 and 1999, 1,393 new drugs were brought to market but only 16 treated neglected diseases, even though these illnesses caused over 10% of the global disease burden.

The Human Cost

Behind every untreated disease is a chain reaction of loss. Chronic illness lowers productivity, which deepens poverty. Poverty worsens living conditions, which spreads disease further. It’s a vicious feedback loop — one that keeps the poorest communities sick and the wealthiest indifferent.

But this is also a story of resilience. Global coalitions like Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) and partnerships like GAVI (for vaccines) are rewriting the rules — proving that profit isn’t the only incentive to innovate.

These organizations show that ethical responsibility and collective action can fill the gaps where markets fail.

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The Big Picture

The story of neglected diseases isn’t just about health — it’s about who counts. It challenges the idea that progress is automatic or evenly distributed. Without ethical frameworks and public pressure, even the best science can look away from those who need it most.