The 2017 Oslo conference report on neglected tropical diseases and emerging/re-emerging infectious diseases – focus on populations underserved

Abstract

Background In 2017, the Centre for Global Health (CGH) at the University of Oslo in collaboration with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) held a meeting to discuss together with leading figures in disease control, research and development the issue of neglected tropical diseases and emerging/re-emerging infectious diseases. This commentary has taken up this discussion and the conclusions drawn at this meeting to make a case for the opportunity the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide in highlighting the interconnectedness of factors that are relevant in the successful fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and emerging infectious diseases (EIDS). Main body Despite NTDs being endemic and EIDS being epidemic, in order to prevent both disease groups effectively, it is important to appreciate that they share essential health determining factors, namely: neglect, poverty, a lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities and an absence of or severely limited provision of healthcare as well as in many cases a zoonotic nature. Instead of looking to “simple disease management” for the answer, the SDGs help to understand the interplay of multiple priority areas and thereby help to promote a more holistic approach to addressing these two disease groups. Conclusions Their commonalities mean that the Global Health community should leverage opportunities and efforts in the prevention and elimination of both NTDs and EIDs. Doing so using a One Health approach is considered to offer a “public health best-buy”. Concrete solutions are proposed. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40249-019-0550-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Schistosomiasis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: a systematic review

“…Schistosomiasis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (Sch-PAH) is a life-threatening complication of chronic hepatosplenic schistosomiasis [3][4][5]. Schistosomiasis pertains to neglected tropical diseases, which affect a large number of people and usually attract insufficient attention, research efforts and financial resources, since neglected tropical diseases primarily concern people of lower socioeconomic status [6]. Hereby, schistosomiasis affects more than 230 million people worldwide, of whom 10% develop hepatosplenic disease [7][8][9].…”

The bibliometric landscape of infectious disease research in Panama (1990 - 2019): An evaluation of the country’s capability on One Health

“…For the second search strategy, we conducted analogous queries in PubMed for all the scienti c documents (e.g., controlled clinical trials, books, datasets, journal articles, letters, and reviews), and re ned the exploration by searching for the neglected and emerging infectious diseases listed in Mackey et al [2], Maxwell et al [15] and Klohe et al [3] ( Supplementary Table S2) (e.g., "Panama"[A liation] AND "Dengue virus"[Title/Abstract]). The latter references are key articles regarding pathogens and diseases with spillover potential in LAC and more broadly as well.…”

An Overview of Current Uses and Future Opportunities for Computer-Assisted Design of Vaccines for Neglected Tropical Diseases

“…Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are high-morbidity, high-mortality infectious diseases associated with extreme poverty in tropical and sub-tropical countries, where people usually have limited access to health services. 1 , 2 They can be caused by bacteria, endo- and ecto-parasites, viruses and fungi. More recently, snake envenoming has also been included in the World Health Organization (WHO) list of NTDs.…”

“…Most NTDs are zoonotic infections, but there are also others whose main reservoir are humans like dengue. 2 Some are transmitted by vectors, while others spread by direct contact and/or oral and food-borne routes. 2 Originally confined to tropical and sub-tropical regions, under currently changing climate conditions, their potential to emerge in other areas due to migration of human populations and/or changes in vector distribution must be taken into consideration.…”