WHO Outlines Strategy to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases

The World Health Organization is calling on drug companies to donate more medicine to help to eradicate tropical diseases. One billion people in the world's poorest countries are chronically ill from these diseases, which receive little attention from drug manufacturers and health organizations. Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., GW Distinguished Research Professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine, says that many of these diseases can be treated with a single pill, but there is often no funding for proven and inexpensive treatments.