5 Neglected Tropical Diseases that Can Be Cured for Less than $1

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In areas where clean drinking water is rare and people can scarcely afford enough food to eat, disease is rampant. Tropical diseases such as malaria are widespread, but unlike malaria, many of these diseases (referred to as neglected tropical diseases) have been largely ignored by health organizations. That is because, even though they collectively affect around a billion people, each individual disease represents a much smaller problem.
Fortunately, many of these diseases can be treated very inexpensively. In fact, there are several neglected tropical diseases that can be cured for less than $1.
Here is a brief description of five of them:
#1 Hookworm infection
Hookworms are parasitic worms that are transmitted through feces. The disease is usually contracted by walking barefoot on soil that has been contaminated. Most people who have hookworms don't experience any symptoms, but when symptoms do occur, they include gastrointestinal symptoms, blood loss, anemia, and protein loss.
#2 Lymphatic filariasis
Also called elephantiasis, lymphatic filiariasis is caused by parasitic nematode worms, which make nests in the human lymphatic system. Symptoms include acute attacks of pain and fever, kidney damage, blood in the urine, and swelling of the arms, legs, and genitals.
#3 Onchocerciasis
Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is transmitted by the bite of an infected blackfly. The fly carries the larval form of the Onchocerca volvulus worm from one person to another. Symptoms include intense itching, rashes, lesions, skin depigmentation, and blindness. This is one of the few neglected tropical diseases that isn't really neglected: Merck has been donating Mectizan to treat river blindness for 25 years. The program was expanded in 1998 to provide treatment for elephantiasis as well.
#4 Schistosomiasis
Also known as bilharziosis or snail fever, schistosomiasis is contracted through skin contact with contaminated water. The larval form of the parasitic blood fluke that causes the disease enters the body and lives in the person's veins. The eggs laid by the adult flukes are what cause most of the symptoms, which include urine in the blood or stool, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a wide range of symptoms affecting the reproductive system. The types of symptoms seen depend on the location of the infection.
#5 Trachoma
Trachoma is spread through contact with discharge from the eye of an infected person and through transmission by flies that are attracted to the eyes. Severe cases can result in the eyelid turning inward and scarring of the cornea by the patient's own eyelashes, which can cause blindness.
A new program formed in January 2012 called the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases is working to eradicate or control ten of the neglected tropical diseases that afflict the most poverty-stricken people in the poorest areas of the world. The program is coordinating efforts by various organizations to obtain donations of medicine and distribute them to those in need. But medicine is not all that these people need. Clean water would make a huge difference in sanitation and drastically reduce the amount of disease among the poor.