logo
Science Portal
Copyright © Médecins Sans Frontières
v2.1.5127.produseast1
About MSF Science Portal
About
Contact Us
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Copyright © Médecins Sans Frontières
v2.1.5127.produseast1
World NTD Day | Collections | MSF Science Portal

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) impact nearly 1.7 billion people each year, causing serious illness or lifelong disability among many—often leading to stigma and exclusion—and killing an estimated 200,000. The vast majority of sufferers live in the world’s poorest countries.


The World Health Organization’s NTD roadmap 2021-2030 aims to address 20 tropical diseases through prevention, control, elimination, and/or eradication. But despite some progress, reaching all its targets will take better, far more accessible diagnostics and treatments along with more robust strategies, political commitment and resources.


To mark World NTD Day, this collection spotlights work by MSF and collaborators on improving approaches to snakebite envenoming, kala azar and noma. One study presents an innovative artificial intelligence-based snakebite diagnostic tool, while others evaluate shorter, less toxic drug regimens or different models of care. Several commentaries advocate for national/regional strategies adapted to contexts ranging from remote villages to active conflict zones. Another crucial factor is the climate crisis, which is intensifying the transmission and geographic spread of many NTDs.

Collection Content

Journal Article
|
Research

Neglected etiologies of prolonged febrile illnesses in tropical and subtropical regions: A systematic review

Musumeci S, Kruse A, Chappuis F, Ostergaard Jensen T, Alcoba G
2024-06-21 • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
2024-06-21 • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
BACKGROUND
Febrile illnesses that persist despite initial treatment are common clinical challenges in (sub)tropical low-resource settings. Our aim is to review infectious etiologies ...
Conference Material
|
Video

Towards an arsenic-free oral treatment for human African trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense: a new tool for disease elimination

Baudin E
2024-05-16 • MSF Scientific Day International 2024
2024-05-16 • MSF Scientific Day International 2024
Journal Article
|
Commentary

Anticipating visceral leishmaniasis epidemics due to the conflict in Northern Ethiopia

Boodman C, van Griensven J, Gupta N, Diro EGJ, Ritmeijer KKD
2023-03-23 • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
2023-03-23 • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Journal Article
|
Commentary

Availability, accessibility and use of antivenom for snakebite envenomation in Africa with proposed strategies to overcome the limitations

Dalhat MM, Potet J, Mohammed A, Chotun N, Tesfahunei HA,  et al.
2023-02-26 • Toxicon: X
2023-02-26 • Toxicon: X
Africa remains one of the regions with the highest incident and burden of snakebite. The goal of the World Health Organization to halve the global burden of snakebite by 2030 can only be...
Journal Article
|
Commentary

Snakebite envenoming at MSF: A decade of clinical challenges and antivenom access issues

Potet J, Singh SN, Ritmeijer KKD, Sisay K, Alcoba G,  et al.
2022-12-21 • Toxicon: X
2022-12-21 • Toxicon: X
The medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides medical care in more than 70 countries and admits more than 7000 cases of snakebite in its facilities each y...
Conference Material
|
Video

Planetary health and neglected tropical diseases

McIver L
2022-12-01 • MSF Paediatric Days 2022
2022-12-01 • MSF Paediatric Days 2022
Journal Article
|
Research

AmBisome monotherapy and combination AmBisome - miltefosine therapy for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in patients co-infected with HIV in India: a randomised open label, parallel arm, phase 3 trial

Burza S, Mahajan R, Kazmi S, Alexander N, Kumar D,  et al.
2022-10-15 • Clinical Infectious Diseases
2022-10-15 • Clinical Infectious Diseases
BACKGROUND
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in patients living with Human-Immunodeficiency-Virus (HIV) present an increasingly important patient cohort in areas where both infections are ...
Journal Article
|
Research

Paromomycin and miltefosine combination as an alternative to treat patients with visceral leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa: A randomized, controlled, multicountry trial

Musa AM, Mbui J, Mohammed R, Olobo J, Ritmeijer KKD,  et al.
2022-09-27 • Clinical Infectious Diseases
2022-09-27 • Clinical Infectious Diseases
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to determine whether paromomycin plus miltefosine (PM/MF) is noninferior to sodium stibogluconate plus paromomycin (SSG/PM) for treatment of primary visce...
Journal Article
|
Review

Towards the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis as a public health problem in East Africa: reflections on an enhanced control strategy and a call for action

Alvar J, den Boer ML, Dagne DA
2021-12-01 • Lancet Global Health
2021-12-01 • Lancet Global Health
East Africa is the world region most affected by visceral leishmaniasis, accounting for 45% of cases globally that were reported to WHO in 2018, with an annual incidence that is only sli...
Journal Article
|
Commentary

Model of care, Noma Children’s Hospital, northwest Nigeria

Isah S, Amirtharajah M, Farley ES, Adetunji AS, Samuel J,  et al.
2021-06-03 • Tropical Medicine and International Health
2021-06-03 • Tropical Medicine and International Health
The Nigerian Ministry of Health has been offering care for noma patients for many years at the Noma Children's Hospital (NCH) in Sokoto, northwest Nigeria, and Médecins Sans Frontières h...

See more collections

Power & communities (MSF Scientific Days International 2022)

Power & communities (MSF Scientific Days International 2022)
No description available
Climate change and health

Climate change and health
The climate crisis is also a health and humanitarian crisis, disproportionately impacting people in the world’s most climate-sensitive regions—mainly low- and low-middle income countries with the least capacity to respond. MSF and other humanitarian organizations witness the consequences daily. More frequent, intense weather events and a warming planet contribute to food and water scarcity, more severe and widespread disease outbreaks, and more injuries and preventable deaths. They also drive massive population displacement, with over 32 million people fleeing their homes in 2022 alone due to floods, drought, storms and fire—nearly triple the number displaced by violence and conflict. As global leaders convene in Dubai for the UN climate conference (COP28, 30 Nov-12 Dec 2023) we present this cross-section of work by MSF and collaborators, drawing from first-hand experience at our medical projects. Emphasizing the urgency of adapting humanitarian operations to the climate crisis, the collection also explores loss and damage through a health lens, proposes policies and practices for creating climate-resilient health organizations, and advocates for embedding fair, just ethics perspectives into humanitarian action and research on climate.
Mental health in humanitarian settings

Mental health in humanitarian settings
Complex humanitarian emergencies and other low-resource settings can be exceedingly difficult places to provide quality mental health (MH) care. Yet these environments also often have a high burden of mental health care needs. This collection presents a set of articles describing how MSF teams have adapted and evaluated ways of bringing clinically impactful MH care to neglected communities and patients—from forcibly displaced populations in northern Nigeria to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and typhoon survivors in the Philippines. It also highlights work on developing new tools for providing clinical supervision and for identifying those patients most in need of care in fragile settings, and on new approaches to delivering MH services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
View All Collections
World NTD Day

World NTD Day