UK to protect 200 million people from tropical diseases

The UK will protect over 200 million people from the pain and disfigurement caused by treatable tropical diseases. Britain is already leading the way in fighting these diseases, and will more than double its support over the next 5 years. This will mean a billion treatments for people at risk in the developing world as part of an international push to eliminate and eradicate these ailments for good.

 

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The UK’s total support package will:

• Wipe out Guinea worm, which is transmitted through dirty water;
• Eliminate visceral leishmaniasis in Asia, a parasitic disease caused by infected sand-flies which destroy the internal organs;
• Prevent up to 400,000 cases of blindness caused by trachoma, the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world;
• Prevent tens of thousands of cases of disability caused by lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-transmitted disease which can cause severe swelling of the lower limbs
  

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The UK will also build on the great work done by our world-class universities, pharma companies and NGOs tackling Neglected Tropical Diseases by investing in pioneering research to drive the development of drugs that will control or eliminate them.

Source: GOV.UK. Read full article here.
27 April, 2017