Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Neglected Tropical Diseases Become a Little Less Neglected…The Gates Foundation, World Bank and other big donors have pledged an additional $240 million to fight neglected tropical diseases. What are these? Things like Guinea worm, river blindness, sleeping sickness, Leishmaniasis, and other mostly parasitic diseases that tend to affect the poorest of the poor. Why are they neglected? Because they have not historically attracted the same amount of attention as the Big Three: AIDS, Malaria and TB. There is not much of a market for medicines that could treat these diseases. These are “the ancient diseases of poverty.” What’s Changed? The international health community and a consortium of drug makers are investing in treatments for these diseases. This new funding comes on the heels of pledges last year to combat intestinal worms that disproportionately affect children. Deeper Dive: The World Health Organization’s most recent NTC report: http://bit.ly/1hCdM5e
A Milestone: It’s the One Year Anniversary of the UN Arms Trade Treaty. (UN http://bit.ly/1hCeu2z)
A Rumor Squashed: USAID has denied a rumor that Rajiv Shah may be among the potential picks to replace former U.S. Ambassador to India Nancy Powell, who resigned this week. (Devexhttp://bit.ly/1hCf14y)