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Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) were coined ‘neglected’ because they affect some of the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet: those living in remote rural areas, urban slums and conflict zones. They are diseases that have been largely wiped out in industrialised countries, but  are a critical reason why people in the developing world cannot escape poverty, particularly in rural communities across Africa.  Some NTDs kill, and others cause severe and sometimes lifelong disability.

There are 17 of these parasitic or bacterial infections in total, which affect a sixth of the world’s population. A further two billion people are at risk.

Sightsavers and the NTDs

Sightsavers has been working to combat two of the NTDs for many years: river blindness (onchocerciasis) and trachoma. We have recently pioneered a ground breaking initiative in Zamfara State in Nigeria, to tackle five more NTDs at the same time. Using the vehicle already in place to distribute the drugs to prevent trachoma and river blindness, working with the State drugs were also given out for lymphatic filariasis, the three soil transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis. With systems already in place the cost of preventing the extra diseases is minimal.

You can click here for more information about this exciting project, and find out about the extra diseases Sightsavers is tackling below.

Schistosomiasis (schisto)

Also known as bilharzia or ‘snail fever’ because freshwater snails carry the parasitic worm that causes it, schisto can cause serious damage to internal organs. In children it can impair growth and cognitive development. 

Soil transmitted helminths (STH)

“Helminth” is a technical word for a worm. There are three soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), often referred to simply as common intestinal worms. STHs can cause death through anemia, vitamin A deficiency and loss of appetite. When the amount of worms in a child’s body becomes dangerously high, and they build up in the intestines, surgery is the only option. The worms will eventually block the intestine entirely, which can be fatal.

Lymphatic filariasis (LF)

Commonly known as elephantiasis due to the severe disfigurement infection can lead to, LF is caused by thread-like worms. The larvae are transmitted to humans through the bite of the mosquito. Although infection often begins in childhood, skin and tissue swelling and thickening doesn’t happen until later in life. Such body deformities usually lead to isolation and poverty.