The Global Health Crisis: New Drugs For Neglected Diseases

It’s often difficult for citizens of the developed world to realize the global toll taken in the poor regions of the world by diseases that no longer affect us. The global health crisis is all the more distressing because there are medicines available to treat some of the diseases but sometimes they’re inaccessible, outdated, or unsafe. New drugs for neglected diseases are necessary to fight this crisis and eradicate neglected diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria around the world.

One child dies of malaria In Africa every 30 seconds. Two million lives a year are lost to tuberculosis, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Globally, hundreds of millions of lives are threatened by parasites and other infectious agents.

Global effect

The global health crisis affects everyone for a simple reason: disease not only destroys health, lives, and families; disease destroys livelihoods. Every person in a poor country with an intractable disease is a person who can no longer contribute to the economic health of their country. Mothers with ill children often cannot work as well.
The continued cycle of poverty also creates an economic load for the developed world, and contributes to civil unrest and war.

Solutions

One tool for organizing the fight against these diseases is a Neglected Disease Pipeline that features information on 16 neglected diseases of the developing world. This tool includes:

• Background information on each disease
• Existing drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics
• Medicines still needed
• Potential markets
• Current product pipeline

Another part of the solution is to look at the health problems facing poor countries through a dual lens of expertise in global health and the biopharmaceutical industry. To help solve the global health crisis, new drugs for neglected diseases are needed.

NGOs need to maintain a commitment to helping biopharmaceutical companies find ways to participate in global health. Our Board members, Corporate Leadership Councils, and staff members are passionate about saving lives, and changing the futures of those living in the developing world. Join us.

By: Molly Pollen

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About the author BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to save lives by accelerating the development of new drugs for neglected diseases, including vaccines and diagnostics to address the unmet medical needs of the developing world. Learn more at www.bvgh.org.