ODI Global
NTD Control Programme Office in Freetown
"For the world’s poorest, difficult living conditions are often compounded by the prevalence of a threat to their health that for many years barely appeared on the global health agenda – a group of ailments known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Ninety per cent of the NTD burden can be explained by five diseases: Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness (causing terrible itching and lesions on the eye), Schistosomiasis or bilharzia (causing extensive organ damage), Lymphatic Filariasis, also known as elephantiasis (causing damage to the lymphatic system and painful enlargement of body parts), Soil Transmitted Helminths (causing diarrhoea, abdominal pain, chronic intestinal blood loss and anaemia) and Trachoma (the world's leading cause of preventable blindness)." "Throughout our fieldwork, people gave testimony to the work of the CDDs, such as one woman who said: “I was reluctant to take the medicine. We were suspicious but the CDDs explained to us why it was important. After taking the medicine, my itching stopped and I could see much better”. Thanks to their early efforts in reaching out to their peers, initial reluctance to take the drugs has faded and nowadays people start asking for the drugs even before the distribution campaigns start. "
Photo credit: Romina Rodríguez Pose. Find out more at www.developmentprogress.org/blog/2013/07/24/unknown-peopl...
NTD Control Programme Office in Freetown
"For the world’s poorest, difficult living conditions are often compounded by the prevalence of a threat to their health that for many years barely appeared on the global health agenda – a group of ailments known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Ninety per cent of the NTD burden can be explained by five diseases: Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness (causing terrible itching and lesions on the eye), Schistosomiasis or bilharzia (causing extensive organ damage), Lymphatic Filariasis, also known as elephantiasis (causing damage to the lymphatic system and painful enlargement of body parts), Soil Transmitted Helminths (causing diarrhoea, abdominal pain, chronic intestinal blood loss and anaemia) and Trachoma (the world's leading cause of preventable blindness)." "Throughout our fieldwork, people gave testimony to the work of the CDDs, such as one woman who said: “I was reluctant to take the medicine. We were suspicious but the CDDs explained to us why it was important. After taking the medicine, my itching stopped and I could see much better”. Thanks to their early efforts in reaching out to their peers, initial reluctance to take the drugs has faded and nowadays people start asking for the drugs even before the distribution campaigns start. "
Photo credit: Romina Rodríguez Pose. Find out more at www.developmentprogress.org/blog/2013/07/24/unknown-peopl...