Rather than getting involved in Pie Issues, I thought that I would just draw some attention to some good news:
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative
Neglected tropical diseases continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Yet, of the 1,556 new drugs approved between 1975 and 2004, only 21 (1.3%) were specifically developed for tropical diseases and tuberculosis, even though these diseases account for 11.4% of the global disease burden.
Well finally there is some good news
Kala azar, or visceral leishmaniasis, is one such neglected tropical disease. It is the world's second largest parasitic killer after malaria, killing 40,000 people every year, and yet no new drugs have been developed for decades
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The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and four pharmaceutical firms, Eisai, Shionogi, Takeda Pharmaceutical and AstraZeneca have announced the start of a ground-breaking initiative to accelerate and cut the costs of early-stage drug discovery for kala azar and Chagas, two of the world's most neglected diseases.
This innovative DNDi model, which avoids the huge costs associated with developing new drugs by rallying pharmaceutical companies around the world to share their vast resources, is already proving successful, with a portfolio of 15 promising new drugs.
Visceral leishmaniasis: Attacks the liver, spleen and bone marrow and is carried by sand flies.
Visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala-azar, is characterized by irregular bouts of fever, substantial weight loss, swelling of the spleen and liver, and anaemia (which may be serious).
If the disease is not treated, the fatality rate in developing countries can be as high as 100% within 2 years.
Over 90% of visceral leishmaniasis cases occur in six countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, South Sudan and Sudan.
Chagas disease(American trypanosomiasis)
About 6 million to 7 million people are estimated to be infected worldwide, mostly in Latin America.
Vector-borne transmission occurs in the Americas. The insect vector is a triatomine bug that carries the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi which causes the disease.
Chagas disease was once entirely confined to the Region of the Americas – principally Latin America – but it has now spread to other continents.
The disease is curable if treatment is initiated soon after infection.
In the chronic phase antiparasitic treatment can also prevent or curb/halt disease progression.
Up to 30% of chronically infected people develop cardiac alterations and up to 10% develop digestive, neurological or mixed alterations which may require specific treatment.
Vector control is the most useful method to prevent Chagas disease in Latin America.
Blood screening is vital to prevent infection through transfusion and organ transplantation.
Diagnosis of infection in pregnant women, their newborns and siblings is essential.
If you would like to learn more:
http://www.dndi.org/...
If you would like to help
http://www.dndi.org/...
