There are 17 neglected tropical diseases which together affect more than 1 billion people
LONDON, Feb 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The largest ever survey of an infectious disease has been completed, part of an effort to eliminate trachoma, a painful eye infection that can cause blindness, the international NGO Sightsavers says.
Trachoma is one of a group of neglected tropical diseases, here are some facts about them:
- Trachoma is one of 17 neglected tropical diseases which together affect more than 1 billion people, including some of the poorest and most marginalised in the world
- Many are not deadly but are painful and debilitating. For example, trachoma causes blindness, yaws attacks bones and can make walking difficult, lymphatic filariasis causes severe disability
- The diseases are: trachoma, yaws, leprosy, Chagas disease, dengue, rabies, Buruli ulcer, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, cysticercosis, guinea worm, echinococcosis, foodborne trematode infections, lymphatic filariasis, river blindness, schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminthiases (intestinal worms)
- All 17 diseases have been earmarked by the World Health Organization for eradication, elimination or control by 2020
- Eradication means a disease no longer exists anywhere in nature, eg smallpox. Elimination is where the disease is no longer transmitted in a particular country or region, eg polio in the Americas, but it still exists in nature and prevention is needed to stop it from re-emerging. Control is where the prevalence of a disease is reduced.
- Yaws and guinea worm are earmarked for eradication. Rabies, trachoma, leprosy, Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, river blindness and schistosomiasis are targeted for elimination.
- Improved sanitation, access to clean water and reduced poverty help slow the transmission of many of these diseases
- The Global Trachoma Mapping Project is the largest survey of an infectious disease ever carried out, Sightsavers says. Researchers have examined 2.6 million people in 29 countries for trachoma since December 2012. The sample represents a population of more than 224 million people
Sources: World Health Organization, Carter Center, Sightsavers
(Reporting by Alex Whiting, editing by Tim Pearce. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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