Abstract
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are those largely ignored by medical science, partly because they do not represent a viable commercial market for private pharmaceutical companies. These diseases are endemic in developing countries and have a significant impact at both personal and national levels. Globally, NTDs affect an estimated 2.7 billion people living on less than US$2 per day [1] and potently reinforce the poverty cycle [2]. At present, the prevailing strategy for improving access to medicines for these NTDs is drug donation programmes, which, despite providing some of the highest economic returns of public health programmes at 15%–30% [2], [3], have uncertain sustainability. Countries in demographic and economic transition are uniquely poised to be leaders in a shift towards a more sustainable, affordable means of providing access to medicines for NTDs.
Highlights
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are those largely ignored by medical science, partly because they do not represent a viable commercial market for private pharmaceutical companies
Of the products for HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and NTDs, two-fifths (40.5%) of the products on the market and 62.9% of the products in development were for NTDs [9]
How are the emerging economies working to improve access to medicines for NTDs? Lower costs are helping to stimulate the development of medicines in these emerging economies
Summary
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are those largely ignored by medical science, partly because they do not represent a viable commercial market for private pharmaceutical companies. These diseases are endemic in developing countries and have a significant impact at both personal and national levels. The prevailing strategy for improving access to medicines for these NTDs is drug donation programmes, which, despite providing some of the highest economic returns of public health programmes at 15%–30% [2,3], have uncertain sustainability. Countries in demographic and economic transition are uniquely poised to be leaders in a shift towards a more sustainable, affordable means of providing access to medicines for NTDs
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