[afro-nets] WHO chief urges fight against "neglected" diseases

[Claudio Shuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

WHO chief urges fight against "neglected" diseases
--------------------------------------------------
From: Vern Weitzel <vern@coombs.anu.edu.au
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK105239.htm


BANGKOK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The head of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) called on Thursday for a stepped up fight
against "neglected" diseases afflicting 1 billion people, mainly
in poor countries.

Margaret Chan, who took over as head of the U.N. agency last
month, said "ancient and entrenched" diseases in the developing
world caused far greater human suffering than emerging threats
such as SARS and bird flu.

"But here is the difference: the neglected tropical diseases do
not threaten international health and security," Chan told a
health conference in Bangkok.

"They do not flare up in outbreaks with high mortality. They do
not grab media headlines. They do not travel abroad or threaten
international security," she said.

Chan named six diseases that maim, blind, disfigure and kill
millions of the world's poor but are rarely seen in wealthier
countries with higher living standards and better health care.
They included "snail fever", or schistosomiasis, which is caused
by a parasite and leaves people so weak they can't work.

It affects 160 million people in Africa alone, Chan said.

More than 40 million people, mainly in Africa and Asia, are
disfigured by lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic disease that
causes grotesque swelling of limbs.

These and other diseases are often neglected by drug companies,
which had little incentive to develop drugs and vaccines for
markets that cannot pay, Chan said.

When cheap and effective drugs do exist, she said, access was
hampered by weak or non-existent health systems.

Chan said drug companies and governments have had some success
in tackling these problems through public/private partnerships,
but more needed to be done.

She called for more resources to expand the delivery of existing
medicines and increased research into new treatments for
neglected diseases.

Some health advocacy groups say publicly funded research plays a
huge role in the development of new drugs and vaccines and
governments should ensure more money is spent on fighting
diseases that affect poor countries.

In a report issued last April, the Global Forum for Health
Research said international experts found only 10 percent of the
world's resources for health research was spent on solving
health problems in the developing world, where 90 percent of
curable diseases are found.